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Souvenirs of Travel 



—BY— 



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ST. LOUIS: 
KARRIS, SMITH & CO. PRINT. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 

G. M. B. MAUGHS, M. D., 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



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If MS LIBRARY 
lot CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



TO MY WIFE 

My Constant Companion in all these Wanderings 

TO WHOSE BETTER TASTE IS DUE 

Whatever of Merit there may be in reflections on Works of Art 

AND 

Whose Devotion and Tender Care 
for more than Forty Years have known no cessation 

MAKING 

November pleasant as was May 

THIS BOOK 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 
THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



Some apology may be thought due for throwing upon the world another 
Book of Travels : none, however, will be given. It consists of the random 
thoughts of a stray M. D., wandering over Europe, thinking about things 
he saw. And if there seem to be too much enthusiasm or gush, I may 
state that this was most natural for one transported from the backwoods 
of the Far West, where his youth had been spent in philosophizing upon 
the mysteries of the plow, to the transcendent glories of the Vatican 
Frescoes. And some may not like the style : let me assure such that this 
is a matter of taste, that the style is good and the matter as varied as 
excellent. Yet others may not like some of the remarks : let such rest 
assured that these are as honest as true, and were not written to please 
any one. There are some errors that might have been corrected had 
health permitted, and will be corrected in the loth or 20th edition which 
the book will soon reach, as every person will read it. And should any 
one have the misfortune not to do so, he will die ignorant of many 
things he should have known. 



LEAVING HOME. 

July 1st, 1884. — After bidding adieu to kind friends, some 
of whom accompanied us to, and others met us at, the depot, 
we left St, Louis at 7 p. m., on the Vandalia Raihvay, for New 
York, on our way to Europe, a journey we had long intended 
making, but which had been deferred until passing years and 
declining health warned us against further delay. 

We had a pleasant section on a Pullman Car with several 
friends and acquaintances on the same sleeper. During the 
night, we passed through Illinois and Western Indiana. The 
morning of July 2nd found us in the eastern portion of 
Indiana; took breakfast at Richmond, and during the day 
passed through the rich agricultural portion of Ohio, dining at 
Columbus, the State capital; through the less inviting western 
portion of Pennsylvania, arriving at the smoky, dingy, dirty 
manufacturing town of Pittsburgh at 8 p. m., at which time the 
sombre appearance of the smoky city was rendered more so 
by the gathering shades of evening ; supped at Pittsburgh, and 
during the night passed through the western and middle por- 
tions of Pennsylvania, arriving at the city of brotherly love, 
Philadelphia, early in the morning of July 3rd, where we took 
breakfast, and continued our journey into and through the 
State of New Jersey, with its beautiful highly-cultivated fields, 
comfortable farm houses and pleasant villages, to New 
ork City, where we arrived at 11 a. m., and put up at the 
Grand Central Hotel, Thirty-first and Broadway, where we 
met our friends, Dr. and Mrs. E., who will accompany us to 
Europe. 



6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

NEW YORK. 

New York City is one of the marvels of our new and rapidly 
developing country. Only 150 years ago it was an obscure 
Dutch village, and indeed only one hundred years ago it was 
but a small town, the centre of a fur trade, the treasures of 
which were gathered from the unknown rivers and unexplored 
wilderness of an unknown region extending to an unknown 
distance towards the setting sun, and perhaps to the North 
pole, certainly to arctic snows, and possibly to the tropics. 
Now it is the third city in Europe or America in population, 
wealth and commercial importance, with costly private palaces 
and public buildings, that vie in splendor with those of kings, 
while her warehouses are filled with the costly products of the 
civilized world, and her merchant princes extend their trade to 
the ends of the earth, and the world feels the throbbings of 
this money centre. 

Fortunately, I was enabled to transact some banking busi- 
ness, after which, late in the evening, in company with Dr. 
and Mrs. E., we had a trip on the elevated railroad to Harlem 
and return. Next morning, July 4th, being a holiday and also 
rainy, we remained in the hotel ; wife busy packing trunks and 
arranging for our long voyage. The next day, Saturday, July 
5th, contrary to the custom in St. Louis, being also a holiday, 
we were unable to make some needful purchases, previous to 
embarking. Indeed, so entirely had we been engaged up to 
the moment of our leaving home that we had not even a map 
or guide book, as well as many little necessaries we had in- 
tended getting in New York, and none of which could we get, 
on account of this awkward intervention of the holidays. 

ON THE SEA. 
July 5th. — At II A. M. left our hotel and went on board 
the staunch steamer Rhyneland, to trust our lives for the next 



ON THE SEA. 7 

twelve days to the, to us, unknown dangers of the ocean. At 
3 p. M. the ship weighed anchor and amidst the waving of hats 
and handkerchiefs, started on her long voyage, steaming down 
the Hudson and out through Long Island Sound, in company 
with five other ocean steamers, making a grand sight. These 
six ocean steamships, leaving port at the same time, each 
bound for widely different parts of the world, and each freighted 
with its living cargo, was beautiful, grand, impressive. What 
multitudinous hopes and fears were here ! Alas ! how many 
of the former like morning mists will vanish, and how many of 
the latter may find full fruition, can only be determined by the 
unknown future. Off Sandy Hook we parted with our pilot 
and entered the stormy waves of the seemingly shoreless Atlan- 
tic. The sea was so rough, the waves so chopped, and our 
vessel rocked so much, that scarcely were we fairly out on the 
sea when almost every lady and child on board was sea-sick, 
and vomiting as though seized with some sudden epidemic. 

At 6 p. M. dinner was announced, when only a few ladies 
were enabled to get to the table and long before the meal was 
finished, every one of these, with the single exception of my 
wife, were compelled to leave the table and hasten on deck or 
were prostrated in their cabins. It was really pitiable to see 
these poor sufferers, many of whom were not able to come to 
their meals for many days. Up to this time neither of us has 
been in the least nauseated, and with appetites sharpened by the 
sea breeze we do such ample justice to the excellent cuisane of 
the Rhyneland that we fear the Captain almost wishes that we, 
too, had a brush of sea-sickness. 

July 6th. — The night continued stormy, with the waves 
rolling mountain high, dashing against the sides of the ship 
and port hole window of our birth, as shown by the faint phos- 
phorescent light these breaking, foaming waves produce. All 
night long the spray dashed over the deck, driving the pas- 



8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

sengers from the lee side of the ship or to their rooms. The 
noise of the waves and rolling of the ship so frightened wife 
that she had me get up to see if we were not sinking or had 
not struck a whale or iceberg, or grounded. 

Sunday, July 6th. — We are fairly out of sight of land. 
Ocean ! illimitable ocean ! everywhere, bounded only by the 
horizon. How fearfully moan the waves as they roll in upon 
our vessel from the eternity of waters that lie beyond — nothing 
but darkness, mists and storms, the fitting emblem and home 
of terrors. But our good ship, a floating palace, is of iron 
with ribs of steel, and though the work of puny man, seems at 
home amidst this waste of waters, laughing at winds and riding 
down storm and waves. Our course is slightly south of east, 
running down to north latitude 40 , bearing directly for the 
Gulf Stream. This direction is taken in part to avoid icebergs, 
the terror of the North Atlantic at this season of the year. 
These floating mountains of ice, broken off" from arctic glaciers, 
float down south as far as the Gulf Stream, where they are 
rapidly melted away by this mighty river of warm salt water, 
heated up in the sea of Sargossa and intertropical portions of 
the South Atlantic to a temperature of 90 , and heaped up by 
its expansion, flowing as a mighty river, more than equal to all 
the fresh water rivers of the world, with a velocity of from four 
to six miles an hour off the Keys of Florida, being deflected 
further from our coast until off the banks of Newfoundland it 
is divided, a portion running as an undercurrent up through 
Behring Straits to the Polar Sea, where it comes to the surface, 
giving, most probably, an open sea immediately around the 
North Pole, while the greater portion runs across to northern 
Europe, warming up and rendering habitable England, Scot- 
land and other parts of northern Europe, producing the beauti- 
ful green of the Emerald Isle. All of these, though in high 
northern latitudes, to which belong the inhospitable cUmate of 



ON THE SEA. 9 

Labrador, are so warmed by this ocean furnace, whose heat is 
bottled up in intertropical seas, as to spread their fields with 
laughing plenty. How wonderful and beneficent is this 
aqueous furnace is seen in the fact that from opposite causes 
we have even in lower latitudes the inhospitable wastes of 
Labrador. Our rapid approach to this warm river is shown in 
the rise of the temperature of the sea, which has risen from 
69' to 77. 

Monday^ July yth. — Weather continues stormy, waves 
breaking over the deck, and as our room is to the windward 
we are compelled to keep the windows closed, thus cutting off 
all currents of air, which, with the vessel running through hot 
water, renders the nights uncomfortably warm. In the day, 
however, when not confined to our room, the fresh, balmy sea 
air almost compensates for the disagreeable nights. Towards 
evening of this day the sea became more calm and we all re- 
mained on deck until near midnight. The younger passengers 
entertaining us with songs and with music on the piano in the 
saloon, making us feel much at home. Really this life on the 
ocean wave with smooth seas and no storm is rather pleasant, 
so much so that, forgetting stormy weather, we feel that we 
would soon become fond of life upon the sea. 

Tuesday, 8th. — The subsidence of the rough weather has 
produced a happy change in our ship's crew, nearly all of whom 
now get to the table, and with appetites so much sharpened by 
previous privation as to threaten an exhaustion of provisions, if 
from any cause our journey should be prolonged a few days. 
Met to-day two steamers and one sail-vessel on this great high- 
way of nations which, without trees or mile-posts, is blocked 
out by the mariner's compass with unerring certitude. A few 
stormy petrels and sea gulls still follow our steamer. One 
whale was seen, and shoals or flocks of flying-fish start up in 
front of the ship's bow and, after flying a few hundred feet or 



lO SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

as many yards, drop down again into the water. To see these 
tiny creatures while playing the bird is both interesting and 
instructive, as they evidently represent in some manner, in the 
world's history, the primogenitors of birds, or of flying, half- 
sea, half-land serpents, the immediate primogenitors of birds. 
Only a little development would fit them for extensive flights 
in the air, while a metamorphosis not greater than that which 
forms the air-breathing frog from the gilled, water-breathing 
tadpole would qualify them for a change of life from water to 
dry-land animals. A few porpoises were also seen, but this 
was all of life anywhere visible outside the ship. Evidently we 
are in a desert waste as void of life as the alkaline plains of 
Colorado or the sandy wastes of the Sahara. How or why is 
this ? Cannot fish live in the deep sea ? Or is the tempera- 
ture of the Gulf stream, now as high as 89°, unfavorable to 
animal life ? Whatever be the cause certain it is, that there is 
an absence of animal life in this mid-ocean highway diat is 
painfully tangible. On mentioning this fact to some of 
the passengers they thought I must be mistaken, but on 
appealing to the Captain, he confirmed our observations, 
which with us, however, were not original, only confirmatory, 
having seen the fact stated by, perhaps, Lieutenant Mauray, in 
his "Physical Geography of the Sea," a work that does us great 
national credit. 

Wednesday, July gth. — Storms and waves have disappeared. 
The sea is smooth as glass and last night when the full-orbed 
moon lighted up this silver sheen, it shone as a vast mirror of 
molten silver, dispelling all fears of danger, so quiet, so smooth, 
calm, serene that it hardly presented the reflected image of 
past or gathering dangers. It is, however, becoming foggy, 
and gathering mists seem to float like ghastly shadows towards 
our vessel. Ominous tangible forms, as the shrouded spirits of 
night, are coming nearer, ever nearer, thicker, thicker. Hark ! 



ON THE SEA. II 

what frightful sound is this ! What does it mean ? It is 
the coarse warning voice of the fog-horn. Again and again 
its wild screams, so big with warning dangers, startle the 
ship's crew, while great clouds of fog, the very embodiment 
of the spirit of night, roll in mountain masses in upon 
the ship, enveloping all in darkness so thick and tangible 
that the ship ploughs its way through this body of dark- 
•ness, which stands over and around us, while every 
few seconds the fog-whistle, as if fearful that we might 
forget the danger, announces it with startling clearness ; while 
the rapid fall of the thermometer indicates the immediate pres- 
ence of an iceberg. The possibility of running into an iceberg 
or being run into by some lost ship presents itself to the 
most stolid of the ship's crew. All hands are on the lookout, 
the steamer's engines are slackened, the ship slowered ; ship's 
crew and passengers alike feeling that they are in the imme- 
diate presence of a shrouded danger, born only of the briny 
deep. A feeling of general alarm or terror has taken the place 
of the fancied security of only a few moments ago. Wife, who 
is much afraid of water even without storms and darkness, 
now cried how much she wished she were at home. Had she 
thought of this she was sure she never would have tempted 
Providence by coming here. How dreadful to be thus lost at 
sea, and devoured by hungry sharks ! Well, the iceberg is 
passed, the danger over, and the vessel is afloat with a brisk 
breeze and clear skies, which stand in beautiful contrast to 
these spectres of fog mists. The frightful fog-horn is no longer 
heard. 

Thursday, July loth. — After having run southeast to lati- 
tude 40°, longitude 40^ our course was changed to northeast, 
when we soon ran out of the Gulf Stream with a temperature 
of 8i^ into the cold waters of the North Atlantic, where in 
latitude 43^, longitude 42", the water temperature had fallen to 



I 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

68". The wind has changed to northeast with freshening 
breeze, threatening a blow. Two sails were sighted to-day — 
really these passing sails, out here in this watery waste, give 
us the pleasant feelings of company; we feel that they are old 
acquaintances and are by their presence assured that we are 
not alone on this wild waste of waters. The moon is in its 
wane and does not now rise until lo p. m. This leaves the 
beautifully phosphorescent wake of the vessel a most striking . 
phenomenon. This wake or track behind the vessel appears 
as a great illuminated highway, flashing in phorescent light, 
caused by the milHons of animalcules in the water — the dis- 
turbance of which, or change in their electric states, caused by 
the passage of the vessel, produces a light sufficient to read 
by — near the stern of the ship and fading in a long line of 
milky way — in the distant track of the ship. Truly, ocean as 
well as land hath its wonders, and among them this is not the 
least. 

Friday, July nth. — All day stormy, with waves running high; 
vessel rocked so much that the lady passengers were confined 
to their rooms, and most of them again sick, causing many 
vacant places at table; towards night the wind had increased 
to great violence, sea fearfully rough, causing the vessel to 
plunge so much as to really alarm many ; the night continued 
stormy. 

Saturday, July 12th. — We have been out from New York 
one week, and still in mid-ocean with a stormy deep stretching 
out as a shoreless eternity. Our course continues northeast, 
we are now in north latitude 46^, longitude 31^ The night 
continued stormy, sea very rough. 

Sunday, July ijth. — This is our second Sunday at sea. 
With a subsidence of the storm the water is becoming smoother. 
We are now in north latitude 47 '. Had a clever sermon from 
a Methodist minister — Professor in the Wesleyan University. 



ON THE SEA. 13 

The subject of the discourse, of course, was the voyage and 
shipwreck of St. Paul, which in the midst of this wild waste of 
waters possessed an interest not felt at home — indeed any 
shipwreck would have interested here — where we were quite 
ready to believe in our own, as well as all others. 

Monday, July 14th. — No ships seen to-day, to all appear- 
ances ours is the only one afloat; and really this long voyage is 
becoming monotonous. A few porpoises are playing around our 
ship. They look and act much as a drove of wild hogs, 
wonder if they are not the descendants of those that — when 
the evil spirits entered them — plunged down a steep precipice 
into the sea, or it may be that they are the primogenitors — 
prehistoric of course^of our present Berkshire. We are to- 
day in north latitude 48", longitude 18^, and 2,626 miles from 
New York ^nd 427 from Lizards Point, the nearest land at 
which we touch. 

Tuesday, July i^th. — At noon to-day in latitude 48 50", 
longitude ii"", and 250 miles from Lizards Point. On nearing 
the British Channer there is a great increase of sails; some 
eight or ten were in sight at one time to-day. A feeling of 
discontent in being so long on the voyage is becoming general, 
and this feeling is aggravated by the fact that many articles of 
food are exhausted, the fare becoming bad, food stale, and 
then with many there is a want of appetite to give it relish. 
Conversation less animated, reading and writing tiresome. 

Wednesday, July i6th. — Have been out from St. Louis 
sixteen days, on the sea eleven days. The morning dawned 
beautiful, clear and balmy. We were up and on the deck at 
daylight to catch a view ofthelong-wished-for land. At 5 a. m. 
the Scilla Islands were sighted, when the boatswain's shrill cry of 
" land ahoy " brought all the passengers on deck. The look 
of weariness rapidly gave place to bright faces and the con- 
versation became more animated as each passenger saw, or 



14 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

fancied he saw, some new feature in the small islands. At 
9 A. M. we were off Lizards Point. We were now fairly in the 
British Channel, with the beautiful undulating shores of Old 
England in full view. The low coast has gradually risen into 
a high ridge, the foot of which is lined with serpentine rock, 
which gives it a sombre appearance. Above the lower rocky 
border the sloping ridges are in a high state of cultivation, 
with green fields and pastures to their summits, while neat 
farm houses, or clusters of houses, checker them. Doubtless 
this entire region was originally a heath, as no trees are seen 
except along the borders of the stream or in cave-like depres- 
sions between the hills, and even these have the appearance of 
having been planted. An old Gothic church with a square 
tower — said to be the most southerly church in England — is 
seen from the deck of the steamer. All the passengers are 
now upon the deck and in high spirits, each anxious to dis- 
cover something new, and as we run along, at no great distance 
from the land, the entire coast-line with all its beauties real 
or immaginary are beautifully given. At 1 1 p. m. the historic 
Isle of Wight is passed with its outline coast distinctly in- 
dicated by long rows of gas lamps. 

Thursday, July lyth. — Arose early to get a glimpse of the 
wondrous historic white chalk cliffs of Dover, which rise in 
perpendicular walls several hundred feet above the sea. Above 
the town is the splendid casde of Dover, built in the middle 
ages. To the Avest, and crowning the heights, are strong forti- 
fications frowning destruction upon England's foes. Several 
revenue cutters are lying off the town. These with the fleet 
of fishing smacks and passing steamers give the Channel here 
quite an animated appearance. At this point it has been pro- 
posed to construct a tunnel to connect England with La Belle 
France. Thus far the project has not been favorably enter- 
tained by the English, who prefer their insular position with 



BELGIUM. i 5 

the Channel between them and their hereditary foes, and fear, 
perhaps, that with too close a connection between them 
and their mercurial neighbors they might wake up some fine 
morning to find a French army on their side of the Channel. 
The Channel here is only twenty-five miles wide, and both 
coasts, England and France, are distinctly seen from the 
steamer. Passed the popular Belgian Spa Ostend, a.nd took 
on a pilot at the old Dutch town of Flushings, a beautiful place 
with the old walls of fortification on the sea side still standing, 
though battled by the storms of more than a thousand years, 
and for several hundred years, since the introduction of gun- 
powder, utterly useless as a means of protection. The town 
with its wind-mills and red-tiled steep roofs presents a quaint 
and Dutch-like appearance. 

BELGIUM. 

This entire section of Belgium, like Holland, is below the 
level of the sea, intersected by canals, and drained by Hfting 
the water into these by means of windmills. It is protected 
against inundations from the sea by high embankments along 
the entire coast and the banks of the river Schelde. This 
levee is lined the entire distance by tiles laid down as neatly 
and as continuously as the roof of a house. What an immense 
cost of time and labor this has necessitated ! 

The entire country, as far as can be seen from the steamer's 
deck — over a level district with its planted, cultivated trees, its 
neat garden-like farms, its wind-mills, villages, with the steep 
roofs covered by red tiles, is beautifully picturesque and quite 
unlike anything seen in America. We are now steaming up 
the river Schelde with Holland on one side and Belgium on 
the other, and both flat, level surfaces below the sea level and 
drained by numerous canals. Art has so triumphed over 
nature here, recovering from the ocean the land, building a 
wall against the waves, lifting into artificial canals by means 



I 6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of wind-mills, and carrying off by these canals the entire sur- 
plus waterfall, planting forests, making and cultivating rich 
fields, building farm houses and cities, where formerly was 
ocean, as to produce a beautiful country; for here, country, as 
well as its products, is artificial. The industry and skill that 
has created all this, excite our wonder and admiration for 
the people who have thus maintained the struggle for exist- 
ence under circumstances so unfavorable. 

The banks of the Schelde are lined with numerous fortifica- 
tions, worthless and mostly in ruins now, but eloquent wit- 
nesses of the vigilance and fearful struggle by which these 
people have had to maintain their existence against human, as 
well as Neptunian foes. Indeed Belgium is a very gem that 
has excited the cupidity of surrounding nations, who have 
with overwhelming forces ravaged the land, sacking and burn- 
ing its cities and fattening the ground with the blood of its 
brave defenders, whose bravery against fearful odds, often 
served no other purpose than securing their own destruction. 
Their struggles for liberty against formidable invasions have 
been almost constant for the last 1800 years. First the 
Romans under Coesar, B. C. 50, in a pitched battle overcame 
the Servi, who yielded only after the destruction of their army 
by the conquerors of the world. Afterwards the country was 
invaded by the Danes, Normans, and other pirates ; then by 
the Spaniards, who under the cruel, blood-thirsty and bigoted 
duke of Alva, overran and destroyed by fire and sword alike, 
cities and country, slaughtering without mercy men, women 
and children. Later the country was conquered and possessed 
by the French under Napoleon I. 

But ever restless under all these oppressors, and with an 
inextinguishable love of freedom, these brave people stood 
ever ready to strike for liberty, and with lands devastated, 
cities burned, they continued the struggle until in 1830 their 
autonomy and independence were fully estabHshed. 



ANTWERP. 



17 



NotAvithstanding their many disasters, such was the native 
vigor, intellectual as well as physical, that from the 1 2th to 
the 1 8th century, Belgium was the most intellectual nation in 
Europe, producing even amidst the chaos and ruin that 
covered them, many of the most distinguished literary and 
scientific men of those times. 

At 7 p. M. the old and now highly prosperous city of 
Antwerp was seen. Shortly after we ran alongside its spacious 
wharves, and landed amidst a very babel of people. We, with 
many of the ship's passengers, went to the Hotel St. Antoine, 
which is to Antwerp what the Southern Hotel is to St. Louis, 
and beautifully situated at the Place Verte. 

ANTWERP. 

July^ i8th-2ist. — Antwerp, the chief commercial city of Bel- 
gium, with a population of 17 5,000, is situated on the Schelde, 
sixty miles from its mouth. The river here is 700 yards wide 
and thirty or forty feet deep, allowing the largest-sized ocean 
steamers to come up alongside of its spacious wharves. It is 
a strongly-fortified town, and its walls have not been for orna- 
ment, nor of sufficient strength to secure it against conquest, 
as it has witnessed more scenes of blood than almost any other 
city in Europe. Near our hotel the bloody duke of Alva 
murdered 8,000 citizens, when the remainder fled the city to 
escape a like fate. 

It is the third city in Europe in commercial importance, and 
has long been renowned for its art treasures, possessing to the 
tourist great interest. First among these is its old and fine 
Cathedral, first built in 800, again in 11 24, it presents many 
peculiar traits of mediaeval architecture. 

This cathedral is 384 feet long and 214 feet wide and 90 
feet high. The nave is \']f> feet wide, with three aisles on 
either side, divided by lofty columns. The tapering, lace-like 



1 8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Spire rises 407 feet above the ground and is ascended by 516 
steps. It has forty-two bells, the largest weighing 1,600 pounds. 
Witliin the church are many carvings, statues and paintings. 
Three of the paintings are masterpieces by Rubens. One, the 
Ascension of Mary, is over the high altar; another the De- 
scent from the Cross, is in the south transept, and the third, 
the Hoisting of the Cross, is in the north transept. The mas- 
terpiece of Rubens, and one of the great paintings of the 
world, is the Descent from the Cross, It is in three pieces and 
called a Triptych — in the center, taking of Jesus down from 
the cross. On the left the Child Jesus in the arms of 
Simeon ; on the right the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. 
Mary, a beautiful woman, dressed in blue, is Rubens' first 
wife. A. beautiful flower-girl in the painting is his daughter. 
A St. Francis by Murillo, and the Marriage at Cana, by 
M de Vas, are masterpieces. There are also many other 
paintings and statuary of great merit, constituting this Cathe- 
dral an art or picture gallery of the first order, and quite 
worth a visit to Antwerp to see and study, and they would, 
were they sold at public auction, bring money enough to build 
this fine Cathedral. But in fact, no amount of money could 
purchase them, as these people are very proud of Rubens, who 
was, or is considered, their greatest native artist. Many 
tombs and monuments are in and around the Cathedral, which 
is also ornamented with frescoes, has and alto reliefs and 
beautiful stained windows of the 15th century. 

The Musee or Picture Gallery contains many fine paintings 
by the old Flemish and Dutch masters. Among them the 
Crucifixion, and the Adoration of the Magi, by Rubens ; 
Christ on the Cross, by VanDyck ; Fisher Boy, by Hals ; A 
Landscape, by Ruysdale ; The Crucifixion, by VanWeiden ; 
The Virgin Mary, by VanEyck ; Portrait of his First Wife, by 
VanDyck ; the chair and other souvenirs of Rubens, also a 



HOLLAND. 19 

fine white marble bust of Rubens ; hundreds of paintings 
and works of art constitute this gallery one of very great 
interest. 

The Rubens chapel, also the Mary chapel contains many 
fine paintings, with the tombs of Rubens and others. We 
visited the house of Rubens held in great veneration. One of 
the places of most interest is the Museum Planter Moretus. 
This is the old house of the great Antwerp printers, Planter 
and his son-in-law Moretus, who carried on this great printing 
house, they, and their descendants, from 1550 to 1804. It 
contains in its printing presses, fonts, etc., preserved here a 
complete history of the rise and development of printing 
nowhere else found, with many old manuscripts and copies of 
all the early books, with their beautiful and often quaint illumi- 
nations, published by the house of Planter & Moretus. 
Among these we noticed Vesalius' Anatomy, 1568. 

HOLLAND. 

July 2isf. — Left Antwerp for the Hague, capital of Hol- 
land. The railroad runs through a level country intersected by 
numerous canals. We passed through Rotterdam, the streets 
of which are canals, deep enough to admit large steamers and 
sail vessels, which pass through all parts of the city, loading 
and unloading their wares on the side-walks or streets, as do 
wagons in other cities. It is a city of the first commercial 
importance, exporting to, and importing from, all parts of the 
world. This substitution of canals for streets gives the city a 
strange appearance, quite unlike anything we had seen, while 
the numerous wind-mills seen throughout the city increase the 
quaint picturesque oddity of this old Dutch town. 

These great wind-mills, seen not only here, but dotting over 
the country in every direction, with their great moving wings, 
look Hke monstrous fabled birds of ill omen, or ghostly 



20 SOUVENIRL OF TRAVEL. 

spectres of night. Nor do I wonder that Don Quixote put 
spurs to his spirited war horse Rozinante, and charged them 
with poised lance — that is, if he was not afraid to do so, and 
however much we may admire his courage, we must place a 
low estimate on the discretion of mortal man, though aided 
by as fierce a war horse as Rozinante, who would attempt 
thus to overthrow these winged monsters. 

This entire country is not more strange than beautiful. 
These frugal industrious Dutch have made this the most artifi- 
cial, highly cultivated and beautiful country in the world. All 
of Holland is a highly cultivated garden, with its fields scarcely 
larger than garden squares, not a square rood of ground is let 
go to waste, even to the very water's edge of the canals and 
ditches, and to the borders of the gravelled roads and walks, 
the earth is tilled, or long lines of trimmed trees fill in the 
space, and then they are as clean, as industrious. Here in the 
Hague — for we are now in the Hague — the streets are paved 
with the prettiest little bricks in the world, and kept washed 
and scoured until they are as clean as a house floor. And 
then the neat and tidy women, even of the poorer classes, as 
in their wooden shoes, they wash and scour the pavements, 
have their skirts and stockings so clean and neat, that we 
might suppose they had put them on that morning to attend 
church or a fair. Few, very few, rags are seen, and those 
seen are rendered almost pretty from their cleanness. Surely 
if cleanliness is next to godliness, these people are nearer the 
latter than any other nation under heaven. 

Here in the Hague a heavy wagon is almost, or never, seen 
on the streets. Nearly all the carriages are light one-horse 
or dog carts, and most of the traffic is done in hand-carts, 
drawn by a dog, or if too heavy, by a dog and man, or more 
frequently a woman. These latter animals assist the dog by 
pushing the cart, but not unfrequently a dog and woman are 



HOLLAND. 21 

harnessed side by side. The marketing from gardens near 
the city is brought in by dogs and women pulling the cart. 
That from a distance is brought not in wagons, as with us, but 
in boats, and placed in stores throughout the city whence 
it is distributed in hand-carts drawn by dogs. In the country 
I saw a two-dog team returning home after the contents of 
the cart had been distributed, with the dogs harnessed as 
horses in a full run, with a man and woman sitting in the 
wagon or cart. Wife remarked that this was the only country 
she had seen where dogs were useful, but really I felt indig- 
nant that so noble an animal should be treated thus. 

But the picture changes — women are seen with heavy 
baskets on their heads or with a yoke across their shoulders, 
to each end of which is attached a great basket filled with 
vegetables, which in some instances has been brought for miles 
in this manner, and yet the poor creatures, tired as they must 
be, look cheerful, happy. How can they be? How patient 
and uncomplaining is helpless woman! And then the struggle 
for existence here enforces a toil unknown to us, and absolute- 
ly requires that every one be in some manner self-sustaining. 
But here more outrageous still — a poor woman of perhaps twenty- 
five years of age, neat and tidy, as all these women are, and 
of rather comely appearance, is actually pulling along a cart 
loaded with vegetables for the market, and not even aided by 
the dog. And here again, a poor woman and a dog hitched to 
a wagon and pulling it along the streets on perfect equality, 
the dog evidendy feeling that he is the more important animal 
of the two. Well it may truly be said that in this country "wo- 
man is a help-mate," supporting not only herself, but often the 
worthless husband. At these sights an enthusiastic lady 
suffragist exclaimed, "Just wait until we suffragists get control 
of this country — control, as we should, the ballot box — and we 
will have the men and dogs haul us about in these carts we 



2 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

now pull, until the men, at least, will learn it were not well to 
treat us so! " 

On our arrival here I called on our minister, Mr. Hayden, to 
whom I had a letter of introduction. I found him a polite and 
accomplished gentleman, who not only discharges well his duty 
as minister, but by his courteous manner and high accomplish- 
ments reflects honor on his country. 

The Museum Royal is one of the finest picture galleries in 
Europe. It was first established by the House of Orange, in 
1647. Of the 300 principal paintings here, 200 are by the old 
Dutch masters, 40 by French, 20 by German, and 40 by 
Italian masters. Among these are works by Rembrandt, 
Rubens, Potter, VanDyck, Terbury, Tenniers, Hans Holbien. 
One of the greatest of these paintings is the Young Bull, by 
Paul Potter. This is a rural scene, and represents a bull stand- 
ing, with several sheep and cows lying down in a pasture, 
while a peasant is leaning against a tree admiring the beautiful 
stock. I am told its estimated value is 2,000,000 of guilders — 
but really no money would buy it — so nearly do these Holland- 
ers associate it with their national glory. Napoleon in one 
of his Vandal raids having seized this picture and sent it to 
Paris as one of the treasures of the Louvre, as much impover- 
ished as this people then were, they offered Napoleon $50,000 
for the picture, which the glory-loving Emperor, as much as he 
needed money, refused to accept. After the downfall of 
Napoleon, this painting, with many other works of art, was 
restored. Some of these paintings are 350 years old — many 
ofthem2ooand 300 years old — and yet the colors are in 
many instances as bright and fresh as if painted last year. 
Indeed, so bright and fresh are some of the fruits and flowers 
painted by these old Dutch and French masters 300 years ago, 
that it is difficult to believe they have not been painted recent- 
ly. How magical the touch of these old masters to thus smile 



HOLLAND. 23 

through centuries, impressed as it were, with an immortality 
that bids defiance to the corroding tooth of time, outlasting 
the marble tombs that commemorate their dust. It was here 
and by these painters that oil was first used in mixing the 
colors, a discovery obtained by the great Italian painters fi-om 
here. Previous to this, all colors, both on canvas and firesco 
painting had been mixed in water. Raphael's first paintings 
were thus prepared. Afterwards he painted in oil. By this 
discovery a smoother and finer finish was given the paintings, 
and then, perhaps, they were made more durable. And yet 
while this would appear reasonable, I am not at all certain of 
it, as I have seen frescoes where size or some glutinous sub- 
stance — no oil — was used in Pompeii 1,900 or 2,000 years 
old, and also frescoes and papyrus scrolls from the ruins of 
Karnak in Egypt three or four thousand years old, with the 
colors quite fresh. 

Thursday, July 2jrd. — Visited to-day the Zoological and 
Botanical Gardens. The collection of animals is not, so large 
or fine as we expected. There is, however, a beautiful collec- 
tion of birds, some of them quite strange to us, and the flowers 
constitute a very paradise. 

Friday. July 24th. — Left the Hague for Hamburg, Ger- 
many, at 7 A. M., passed through Holland, much of it like the 
portion near the sea, a low, flat country, intersected by canals 
and ditches, with wind-mills ever in sight. At one point I 
counted forty-nine of these in sight at the same time. The 
people are in the midst of harvest, which is evidently good — 
rye, oats, and some wheat, with large quantities of Irish 
potatoes, the latter evidently an important crop here as well as 
in Ireland. Large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle give their 
pastures a rich yield. Most of the cattle are spotted black and 
white, evidently some special and favorite breed. The entire 
country is under cultivation, not an acre is lying waste. 



2 4 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

One thing that attracts the attention of an American, is the 
entire absence of fences. Sheep and cattle are seen grazing 
within a few feet of growing crops of grain, and as they are 
not attended or haltered, we wonder why they do not injure 
the grain, but upon closer attention we discover the cause in 
a narrow ditch, filled — as are all ditches here — with water, 
and these narrow ditches not only divide fields and pastures, 
but separate farms or estates, as do fences with us. 
The entire country is seen to be below the sea-level, as the 
water in the canals, which is pumped there for drainage, is seen 
to be above that in the field ditches. To lift this water from 
the field ditches into the higher canals, is the work of the innu- 
merable wind mills. So much is the whole country below the 
water in the canals, that it would be quite easy to inundate 
all the country by breaking the canals — and indeed this has been 
done with large sections as a means of defense against the in- 
vasions of a powerful enemy. The entire country looks like a 
beautiful landscape garden. There is no dust, and the neatly 
trimmed trees, farm-houses and barns are as neat and tidy as 
the inhabitants. In the western portion of the State, next to 
Germany, the country becomes utterly sterile — unreclaimed, 
because unreclaimable — an extended sandy plain with low 
sand dunes. Here and there amidst the universal sterility a 
few stunted pines struggle for existence. But anforbiding as is 
this Sahara-like district, the exigencies of man have forced to 
the utmost the struggle against it until every little spot of even 
a few acres, not covered with sand, is the home of some toiling 
peasant family, who manage to wring from reluctant nature a 
scanty subsistence. But even here amidst the sand dunes, this 
home-loving people have surrounded themselves with vines 
and flowers, which give to their neat little homes an unsus- 
pected appearance of comfort. 



HAMBURG. 25 

HAMBURG. 

On crossing the border and fairly in Germany the country 
becomes more fertile and populous, with numerous villages or 
large towns. Passed the Custom House officers, polite and 
accommodating, giving us no trouble, not even opening our 
trunks ; passed several large towns, one or two of these strong- 
ly fortified. We are traveling in a first-class car, which is 
quite as fine as, and for day traveling more comfortable than, a 
Pullman Car; traveled all day, and at 8 p. m., quite tired with 
a thirteen hours' journey, we arrived at Hamburg, the most 
important commercial city in Germany, put up at Hotel 
de TEurope. 

July 26th. — Hamburg has about 300,000 inhabitants, the 
largest of the Hanseatic or Free cities of the German Empire, 
and the fourth in commercial importance in Europe. Its ex- 
tensive railroad system connects it with all parts of the con- 
tinent, while its steamers and merchant vessels bring it in re- 
lation with all parts of the world. It is situated on the left 
bank of the Elbe, sixty miles from the mouth, on tide-water. 
Besides the Elbe, there are two small rivers passing through 
this city ; one of these forms an extensive and picturesque 
lake, or square of clear, fresh water in the midst of the city. 
Charlemagne built a castle here in 811, at which time there 
was most probably a considerable city at this place, as its sit- 
uation on this great river, and its proximity to the sea, with its 
safe and commodious harbor, presented inducements or ad- 
vantages not likely to be overlooked by even a half-civilized, 
but sea-faring people such as these. Owing to its strong for- 
tifications it fortunately escaped the ravages of the thirty years' 
war which devastated so many other cities of this part of 
Europe. It fell, however, with other cities of Germany, into 
the hands of Bonaparte, and when the citizens attempted to 



26 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

throw off the French yoke he wreaked a terrible vengeance, de- 
stroying much of the city, and plundering or killing the citizens. 
It possesses but Uttle importance in the art world, its citizens 
being engaged in money-making, in which they have certainly 
succeeded. 

The harbor presents a most busy and animated appearance ; 
great forests of masts, with merchant vessels and ocean steam- 
ers receiving and discharging their valuable cargoes, for, and 
from, all parts of the world, give a ready explanation of its 
great prosperity and rapidly increasing wealth. It has a line 
of steamers direct with America, and its commerce with the 
United States is much the most important of any city in Ger- 
many. The English language is spoken in all the hotels and 
shops to such an extent that one unacquainted with German 
scarcely feels at a loss ; even many of the cab drivers under- 
stand English. The Hving at our hotel — as indeed at all the 
first-class hotels we have thus far met with in Europe — is good. 
The rooms large, comfortable, well-furnished ; but there is one 
convenience in all hotels in the United States — parlors — not 
found in this country. No large room is set apart for the es- 
pecial purpose of parlors, where all the guests may meet. This 
is a serious objection, as it confines guests to their rooms with- 
out the means of becoming acquainted — especially the ladies, 
who never meet except at Table d'Hote, which is a rather for- 
mal, tedious and unsocial affair. Our hotel is situated in the 
most delightful part of Hamburg, immediately in front of the 
Alster Basin, a beautiful sheet of water, walled in, and surround- 
ed with trees. Numerous small boats carry passengers across it 
in every direction, either for business or pleasure. It is in the 
midst of the city and surrounded by fine houses ; numerous 
white swans upon its surface increase its interest. These 
swans are the gift of an old lady who on dying, a number of 
years since, left in her will these swans, with a considerable 



HAMBURG. 2 7 

sum of money, to the city for their maintenance. How beau- 
tiful the thought; many strangers have with the natives 
blessed her for the gift. 

We remained for some time at this hotel, until meeting our 
friend, Dr. B., of St. Louis, a Hamburger by birth, with re- 
lations living here, who kindly procured us boarding in an 
Anglo-German family, a Mrs.- Simpson, No. 47 Besenbinderhof 
Strasse, where we met an English captain and his wife, who, as 
well as the landlady and her daughter, are most estimable peo- 
ple. With all these kind English-speaking people we felt quite 
at home. 

August 3rd. — Took carriage, and with our English friends, 
made a protracted drive through the city and suburbs. It was 
Sunday, a beautiful day, and all the citizens out of doors. The 
gardens and parks were filled with happy men, women and 
children. We noticed one custom not common at home ; at 
almost every house not opening on the street they had a few 
trees or pagoda, under which was a table with the entire fam- 
ily sitting around it. The men with a bottle of wine or beer, 
smoking and sipping their wine with their family ; often some 
member of the family was reading aloud, and the women, 
cheerful, happy, were knitting or embroidering"; "and while this 
looked a littie strange as it was Sunday, I am not sure but that 
it looked pretty. All this with the reading and conversation 
must make the day both pleasant and profitable ; and while 
from education and the force of habit I could but feel that it 
was almost a desecration of the Sabbath, yet it was most likely 
but a much more rational and fitting observance of the day 
than to spend the day in enforced idleness. 

These Germans are much more accustomed to living out of 
doors than are the Americans. With us domestic life is around 
the hearthstone ; with them out of doors, in the manner ob- 
served, or at cafes or beer-gardens, where the men, at least, 



28 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

and often their families, spend almost every pleasant Sunday 
evening. But then these German caf.s and beer-gardens are 
much more quiet, orderly, and respectable than with us. 

August ^th. — Took carriage, and together with several 
members of our house, drove up the Elbe some six or eight 
miles, to Blankenese. The drive was along shaded avenues, 
and by the wondrously beautiful gardens of Hamburg nier- 
chant princes, who are the aristocracy here — this being a free 
city has no tided nobility ; indeed all such have a distaste 
for the atmosphere of Hamburg — and surely there could be 
no more lovely drive. The lawns, palaces and flower-gardens 
of these wealthy citizens far surpass anything we had ever 
seen, or that can be seen at home. They are all open to the 
public, even more so than Shaw's Garden in St. I.ouis, the 
gates not being closed ; the wealthy proprietors evidently tak- 
ing pleasure in the enjoyment they afford the public, in all 
this rivalling our noble-minded, public-spirited citizen, Mr. 
Shaw, while these gardens are much larger, more variegated 
and beautiful than our wonderfully beautiful Shaw's Garden. 
We walked through one of the largest and most beautiful of 
these, belonging to a Mr. Bower. It is of great size, and truly 
a fairyland. In it landscape gardening is carried to the 
greatest perfection. Carpet squares, almost equaling in beauty 
of design and execution the most beautiful Aixminster car- 
pets ; while its palms, roses, flower borders and graveled walks, 
rendered it a very Eden, from which man would feel acutely the 
pang of expulsion, even though on his way to paradise. These 
gardens border, while the palace residences overlook, the ma- 
jestic, beautiful Elbe, whose broad silver surface, covered with 
white sails, gives additional enchantment to the charming scene. 

At Blankenese we ascended, by an elaborately ornamental 
and artificially as well as artistically constructed pathway, a 
lofty eminence, from the top of which we had an enchanting 



KIEL. 29 

view of the winding river and adjacent country, dotted over 
with small towns, villas and neat, garden -like farms and com- 
fortable farm houses. On our return we stopped at a neat, 
picturesque cafe on the banks of, and overlooking the Elbe, 
where we had most excellent coffee and bread ; driving back 
home through the principal parts of the city, around the Alster 
Basin and by its palatial surroundings, reaching home at 
8 p. M., after a drive of five hours, quite fatigued, after a most 
delightful drive. 

August 6th. — Left Hamburg on the 7 a. m. train for Copen- 
hagen by way of Kiel. The country over which we passed is 
populous, and, although the land is poor, through careful culti- 
vation, yields good crops. Rye is the principal cereal of this 
high northern latitude, though small fields of oats and wheat 
are not uncommon, with an occasional field of buckwheat, 
while large sections here and there are utterly sterile wastes of 
peat bogs. But even these morasses, in this country where 
the struggle for existence permits no waste, are turned to good 
account, as the peat turf is cut out in bricks, dried in the sun, 
and burned as fuel. 

KIEL. 

The town of Kiel is the Baltic headquarters of the German 
Navy, and possesses considerable commercial importance ; has 
some 90,000 inhabitants. It is picturesquely situated on the 
Kieler Fohrde near the Baltic, and gives evidence of great 
prosperity. Its University, founded in 1665, is at present in 
a most prosperous condition. We put up at the neat little 
hotel Stadt Hamburg. After dinner took carriage and with 
our friend. Dr. B., drove around the suburbs along the 
Diistei'tibroohen Weg, through a beautiful beech wood to an 
elevated position where we had a beautiful view of the Fohrde, 
around by the observatory, and back to the city by the Uni- 
versity. Nothing can excel the picturesque beauty presented 



30 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

by this forest drive, with the enchanting views of sea and land 
given from its loftier heights. The evening was one of the 
loveliest of the year. The sun set in a cloudless sky, casting 
a golden sheen over the distant hill tops and forest heights, 
while the beautiful harbor, whitened by numerous sails, 
stretched out in transparent beauty as far as vision extended. 
At midnight we took steamer for Copenhagen, via Korsar. 
The Baltic, here called Oest Sea, not unfrequently stormy, was 
during our crossing, remarkably smooth. The moon was in 
its full, the sky cloudless, and not a breath of air disturbed the 
sleeping billows. We had a pleasant run to Korsar, in Den- . 
mark, where we arrived at 7 a. m., and took cars for Copen- 
hagen, where we arrived at 1 1 a. m. and put up at Hotel 
Kongen af Denmark. We had fortunately engaged rooms by 
letter, as we found the hotels all full with delegates to the 
Eighth International Medical Congress to which I am an 
accredited member, and which meets next week. 
COPENHAGEN. 
August 8th, 1884. — Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, 
situated in North latitude 53' 40', and immediately on the 
sound, has a population of 300,000. It had from times un- 
known been occupied by fishermen's huts, when in the twelfth 
century the city was founded by i\xel. Its commercial import- 
ance caused the. rapid growth of the city, which, in the four- 
teenth century, became the residence of the Danish kings. 
_ The greatest or most esteemed of them. Christian II., greatly 
added to the beauty of the city by the erection of palaces and 
public buildings, a citadel and naval establishments. Many of 
the nobility reside here ; their palatial residences together with 
the palace of the king of Denmark, who also resides here, assist 
greatly in making this the most beautiful city in Northern 
Europe, indeed, the Paris of this Hyperborean region. 

August gf/i. — Visited the Thorwaldsen Museum, which 



COPENHAGEN. 3 1 

contains many works by the great Danish sculptor, Thor- 
waldsen who, after many years absence in Italy, studying and 
copying the works of great masters found there, and after 
having acquired a world-wide reputation, that shed glory alike 
on his native country and his art, returned home to give his 
mature labors in decorating his native city. He was received 
with royal honors, a triumphal procession met and conducted 
him to and through the city, amidst flowers, music, triumphal 
arches and the waving of banners with the shouts of the multi- 
tudes rising ever above the roar of artillery. This reception is 
immortalized by bas reliefs on the sides of the building, which 
is a large structure of the Renaissance style. On the front is 
a victory on a quadriga by Bessen. The building contains an 
almost countless number of statues and pieces of sculpture, 
many of these by Thorwaldsen, but mostly the works of Greek, 
Roman and native artists other than Thorwaldsen, consisting 
of Ganymedes, Cupids, The Seasons, Psyches, Day and Night, 
Jason, The Eagle of Jupiter, Shepherd Boy, Triumph of Alex- 
ander, Bachus and Hebe, etc. 

The Ethnological Museum contains a large and valuable 
collection, illustrating the civilization or want of it, of different 
countries, Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and 
Oceanica. The cabinet of medals contains 30,000 pieces. 

The-Royal Library contains 550,000 volumes and 200,000 
manuscripts. The Royal Picture Gallery contains 750 paint- 
ings, many of them by Dutch and Flemish artists, Rubens, 
Rembrandt and Ruysdale being represented. 

Sunday, August loth. — The grand opening of the Medical 
Congress took place to-day, under the patronage of his Royal 
Highness, the King of Denmark. It was a grand occasion. 
The King and Queen of Denmark, the King and Queen of 
Greece, and many royal persons present. The King of Den- 
mark, who was ex-offlcio President of the Convention, was 



32 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

without any of the msignia of royalty, except a heavy gold 
chain and star, while the Queen and her daughters, though 
richly, were plainly dressed, and so entirely without ornaments 
or royal insignia, that one ignorant of their presence would not 
have recognized them as members of the royal family. The 
King was introduced to many members of the Convention, 
shaking hands and conversing familiarly, much as our Presi- 
dent would do on a like occasion. I believe, however, the 
hand-shaking was confined to the American delegates, who 
unawed by the sanctity of royalty, met him on terms of 
equality, scarcely doubting that a king might be as good as an 
American citizen. Doubtless his majesty appreciated this 
acknowledgment, while the nobility with their gay decorations 
of stars and badges of honor, of knights and noblemen, mem- 
bers of the Congress, with their genuflexions indicated the, to 
them, awful, presence of royalty. VV'ith the exception of this 
flutter among the stars and garters, the royal family passed 
through the crowd and out of the room much as distinguished 
guests in America might have done. Now it struck me that 
nothing could be more appropriate than this dignified courteous 
action on the part of the American delegates, or the humble 
bowing and scraping of the nobility, who as physicians were 
delegates. The former owed nothing to kings or queens, 
while the latter were their creations. Any king or queen may 
make a thousand knights, but all the kings and queens in 
Europe could not make an American citizen, without them- 
selves becoming such. The occasion was a very enjoyable 
one, and the courtesy and quiet, good breeding shown by the 
king and royal family impressed every one favorably. And 
were kings always as unpretentious and harmless, they would 
not be bad things to have in any country. 

August 1 2th. — A grand excursion was given the delegates 
and their families to the old casde palace at Elsinore. The 



COPENHAGEN. 



'S3 



day was delightful and the excursion by water. A number of 
steamers were gaily decorated with flags of the different nations 
represented in the Congress, and as this included all the civil- 
ized nations of the earth, the world was represented in these 
flags, while gay streamers fluttered from every mast and sail 
and rope. Thousands of citizens arrayed in their gayest cos- 
tumes lined the wharf both here and on our arrival at Elsinore, 
while a laughing, happy throng filled the six great steamers 
that left the wharf at Copenhagen amidst the waving of hats 
and handkerchiefs, the booming of artillery, shouts of the mul- 
titude and strains of martial music. At Elsinore we were re- 
ceived in like manner. The water-was smooth as an interior 
lake. All the steamers and sail vessels we met, as well as 
those in the ports, were gaily decorated with flags and 
streamers. At Elshiore, where a royal banquet awaited us in 
the old palace, hundreds of banners were waving, small flags 
waved from every house-top and window, while gaily-prepared 
triumphal arches spanned the streets. It was indeed a 
lovely sight, such as we might expect at the reception of a 
Roman conqueror on his return with the spoils of a nation, 
these noble Danes kindly making this occasion a national fete. 
The town of Elsinore, thirty-seven miles from Copenhagen, is 
an old Scandinavian town of some 10,000 inhabitants, situated 
upon the narrowest part of the sound, where strong battle- 
ments commanded the payment of sound dues from all pass- 
ing vessels. The old casde in which we were entertained, 
Kronberg, a former residence of the Danish Kings, is in 
perfect preservation and royally furnished for the king and 
family when visiting it. It is fortified — or of itself is a fortress 
— with a deep moat running around it; was built by King Fred- 
eiick XL in 1570. The flag battery before the castle is where 
Shakespeare makes the ghost appear to the guards. No place 
is a more fitting home for ghosts than this old castle, whose 



34 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

walls have witnessed many a frightfully tragic scene, while its 
dark recesses are said even yet to hold the ghost or spirit of 
the guardian of Denmark, Holgen Danske, who, according to 
reliable legends, now only makes his appearance to warn his 
country of pressing danger. Of course he did not appear on 
this occasion, as ours was a mission of life, not of death. But 
while we did not make the acquaintance of Holgen Danske, 
we did enjoy the right royal hospitahty and love of good cheer 
he bequeathed to his posterity in a royal feast, at which, 
though four or five thousands guests were entertained, there 
was no apparent dimunition of the supply, while the great num- 
ber and size of the rooms permitted no crowding. The walls 
are hung with many fine paintings, portraits of kings and his- 
torical personages, with battle scenes, naval and land battles. 
After a most enjoyable day, we returned at 5 p. m., by rail, to 
Copenhagen. 

August 14th Wonderfully grand and royal as were the 

excursion to, and feast at Elsinore, all were greatly sur- 
passed by those of last evening. The business of the Medical 
Congress, which consisted mostly in eating and drinking, hav- 
ing been much of it disposed of in a satisfactory manner, the 
delegates were entertained with a grand banquet, music, songs, 
etc., given by the citizens. The grand pavilion with seats for 
2,500 guests was gaily decorated for the occasion. Tens of 
thousands of citizens lined the roadway and entrance to the 
grand banqueting hall, or pavilion, which was situated imme- 
diately on the bank of the sound, the quay, scores of steam- 
ers, ships and barges, gaily decorated with flags and streamers 
and crowded with the elite of Denmark, flitted to and fro in 
front of the pavilion. Many of these had on board bands 
which discoursed sweet music during the feasting, while the 
members of the different musical societies sang songs prepared 
by Danish poets for the occasion, making this truly a feast of 



COPENHAGEN. 35 

soul as well as body. The banquet was interspersed with 
toasts and speeches. Most of these were in foreign languages 
which we did not well understand, and of course less interest- 
ing than they would otherwise have been. The music, how- 
ever, needed no interpretation, as its language is universal, 
speaking to the heart, which interprets it to the brain. 

After the banquet, the entire assembly, consisting of many 
thousands, went on board the steamers, and amidst the waving 
ot handkerchiefs and flags and shouts of the multitude, and 
with bands playing patriotic airs, we steamed along the quay 
to the Tivoli, the largest and finest gardens of the kind in the 
world. Thousands of lamps with innumerable colored gas jets 
lighted up the entire grounds as light as day. This open air 
resort or ornamental garden, with numerous halls and booths, 
was on our arrival already fairly filled with ladies and gentle- 
men, who had gathered here to do honor to the occasion ; it 
really looked as though all Denmark was here. The ladies were 
in most handsome attire which well set off their beautiful 
forms and faces, and tens of thousands of men, civil and mil- 
itary, the many officers of the army and navy in their gayest 
uniforms, all of which was rendered the more wierd and beau- 
tiful by the thousands of bright lights that shone with varie- 
gated colors upon the vast assembly. The entire scene was 
that of an enchanted garden ; Aladin's lamp never threw its 
magic rays upon such a marvelously enchanting, bewitching 
scene. 

These hospitable, polite and handsome Scandinavians have 
quite won our affections, and we feel quite ready to pledge all 
America for their assistance in any and all future difficulties 
with, and against, any and all the powers of earth. 

August i^th. — The closing of the labors of the Congress 
took place this evening at a royal banquet at the king's palace, 
which was of course a grand affair, truly becoming royalty. 



36 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The king and queen of Denmark, the king and queen of 
Greece and many members of the royal family were present. 
The king was dressed plainly and was only distinguished by 
the star on his breast. The ladies of the royal family, consist- 
ing of two queens and some three or four princesses, wore 
white satin with long trains. The dresses were decolette, with 
short sleeves. They had on a profusion of diamonds, pearls 
and preci(^us stones, all of which were well set off by their 
beautiful forms and lovely complexions. The king was very 
polite and gracious, shaking hands and talking with the mem- 
bers as at the opening of the Congress. The palace is, of 
course, gorgeously furnished as it is the residence of the king 
and family. Many costly pictures hung upon the walls, mostly 
portraits of royal or distinguished Danes. The palace is not 
lighted with gas, but entirely with wax candles, ten thousand of 
which were burning in the great banqueting hall. All present 
were in full court dress, and the titled members of the Congress 
were gaily decorated with their stars and garters, among these 
the one who outshone all the rest, was a swarthy Arab from 
Egypt, who, if we may believe his badges, had done the Sultan, 
perhaps also the King of Dahomey, some distinguished service, 
but science, I beheve, had never heard of these or of him. 

THE MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ANTIQUITIES. 

Visited this collection, the finest of the kind in the world. It 
consists largely of prehistoric collections from the kitchen 
middens, or rubbish heaps, constituting mounds along or near 
the sea shore. These long-neglected mounds have been found, 
what no one suspected, nor until lately could have properly 
interpreted, vast collections or deposits, dust heaps, made by 
towns, settlements or encampments of prehistoric man. Of 
course, they belong to the Stone Age, and contain quantities of 
flint and bone instruments, tools and domestic implements and 
utensils, together with the bones of animals and fish upon which 



COPENHAGEN. 37 

they fed, with other vestiges of primitive man. These are 
classified and arranged as belonging to remote times, utterly 
unknown in its beginning, perhaps reaching back for tens of 
thousands of years before our era, down to B. C. 1,500 years. 
Then others from B. C. 1,500 to 500 B. C. when the Age of 
Stone is being replaced by that of Bronze. The exact time of 
the introduction of bronze among these Northern nations is 
not, nor can it be, shown in the kitchen middens, as these all 
belong to the Stone Age. The Ages of Bronze and Iron are, 
however, beautifully given in this ethnological collection and 
are so arranged as to show, as far as possible, their introduc- 
tion and advance among these" peoples. Of course, both 
bronze and iron were introduced by the Romans, so that here 
or elsewhere we are not able to trace the archaic period of 
these ages as we can do, for instance, the improvement in 
Etruscan and Greciau'^ces. Here again, in the garbage piles, 
or kitchen refuse, as in the caves of England and France, we 
meet with the bones of animals long since extinct in this 
part of Europe and indeed in all Europe. These remains of 
prehistoric man carry us back to the times of cave-dwellers 
and the cave-bear. One curious fact taught here is that these 
kitchen middens were commenced long anterior to the time 
when man had domesticated the dog. During the earlier 
periods of these people, as shown here, the dog had not yet 
become the companion of man. 

ROSENBURG PALACE. 

Aug. 1 6th. — Visited the old palace of Rosenburg, founded 
in 1604 by Christian IV. It is a fine, large, Renaissance 
structure with gables and towers 300 feet high. It was, and is, 
used as the Autumn and Summer residence of Danish kings, 
each of whom have furnished it, in part, according to their 
times, also keeping here their crowns, jewels etc. Of late the 
historical value of this collection has been greatly increased by 



38 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

removing here, from other palaces and places, precious things, 
heirlooms, bric-a-bracs, by which this old palace has become a 
most valuable, interesting and instructive historical museum, 
informing us, without the aid of books, as to the habits and 
customs of these people in bygone ages, extending in some 
instances beyond the times of Christian IV., half a thousand 
years even into the dim misty legendary, if not mythological 
times. 

During the reign of Christian IV. the revival of learning, the 
Renaissance, reached this far-off land, and is beautifully seen 
in the improvements shown here. This new style was called 
by the older Danes the style of Christian IV., just as in France, 
from the same causes, the Renaissance was called the style of 
Francis I. The audience-room and bed chamber of Christian 
IV. are now much as he left them. In other rooms are shown 
the crown jewels, with diamonds and diamond setting of sword 
handles, all of great worth and beauty, porcelain, glass, state 
and coronation robes, uniforms, wedding-dresses of kings and 
queens, gold and silver ware, watches and clocks of the time of 
Christian IV., portraits of a long Hne of kings and queens ex- 
tending through a period of 400 years. The palace walls in 
some of the rooms are lined with tapestries, representing 
seiges and battles, by sea and land, with numerous historical 
legendary and mythological scenes. Some of these are 300 years 
old, with their scenes representing the time when these powerful, 
fearless Northmen carried a broom at their masthead, as in- 
dicating that their navy swept the seas. Other of these old 
tapestries were the works of queens and princesses and show 
in their devices of hearts and love knots, that they were the 
works of love, as presents to husbands, lovers or children, and 
in many instances with their colors quite well preserved and 
with an elegance in design and finish rivalling oil paintings. 
The vast palace is filled with these emblems of the royal 



COPENHAGEN. 39 

splendor of bygone ages, and yet the past appears to live in 
these things that bring us into the immediate presence of a 
long line of monarchs, queens, princesses and court beauties, 
while the loving hearts and cunning fingers that wrought these 
things have long since mouldered to common dust. How 
impressively these costly baubles of semi-barbaric splendor 
found in this collection speak the vanity of rulers. The carved 
silver drinking-cup, the jeweled sword, the diamond trappings 
are here, but those who owned them, where are they? Their 
very mausoleums fallen to dust, and in many instances even 
their names forgotten; surely 

Time deals alike witk royal dust 

As with more common clay. 
The small, the great, the vile, the just, 

Are pageants of a day. 

Kings and vassals together fall, 

The mighty pass away, 
And castles, towers, turrets, all 

Are hastening to decay. 

All living men must yield to dust, 

The vase that was given, 
To hold a far moi'e precious trust, 

Not for earth, but heaven. 

'Tis only deeds that will outlive 

The tinsel robes we wear, 
'Tis only actions that can give 

Us lasting presence here. 

The labors of the Congress closed with the feast at the 
royal palace, and the delegates, those who are able to do so, 
are leaving for their homes, leaving Copenhagen's banquet- 
halls deserted. Indeed the labors of this Congress have been 
rendered quite onerous by these sharp-sighted Scandinavians, 
who, taking in the situation at first glance, have so plied us 
with feasts, that many of the delegates who came here thin as 
weasels, are returning home puffed up like bladders — so much 



40 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

SO that their wives will not know them, and many must die of 
dropsies produced by the excessive labors of this Congress. 
While all leave with regret this fair city, whose splendid palaces 
and flower gardens were surpassed in beauty and loveliness by 
its surpassingly beautiful women, while the feats in arms of 
their ancestors were eclipsed by the arts of peace and triumph 
of hospitality of its present inhabitants. We leave with many 
wishes for the long life, prosperity and happiness of the king 
of Denmark and all the royal family, as well as the good peo- 
ple of Denmark. If the world must have kings, it would dO 
well to get them here, while all will join me in the belief that 
here is the place all should get their queens. 

STETTIN. 

Ai/g. i8th. — Took steamer at 2 p. m. for Stettin. The 
Baltic, or Oest Sea, was again smooth, placid, beautiful, the 
steamer running as smoothly as if on a river. At sunrise next 
morning we were steaming up the beautiful Oder, with a fine 
view of the country, which much resembles the upper Missis- 
sippi, with, however, the difference, that here every foot of 
available land is under the highest cultivation. Arrived at 
Stettin at 8 a. m. 

The town has 100,000 inhabitants, with some manufacturing 
and commercial importance. Its greatest activity was evident- 
ly in the Naval Department, and the building of torpedo 
boats the most active part of this. Without stopping in the city, 
we took cars for Berlin, stopping at the Grand Central Hotel, 
which is among the finest hotels in Europe. Being quite sick 
and tired, we did not go out. Left at 9 p. m. for Carlsbad, 
where we arrived next day at 1 1 a. m. 

CARLSBAD. 
August 20th, 1884. — .These are the most important mineral 
springs in the world, and are visited by some 30,000 persons 



CARLSBAD. 41 

annually. They are said to have been discovered by the 
Emperor Charles XIV., whose statue is here near the rath- 
haus. But this is legendary ; they have doubtless been 
known from time immemorial. There are some fifteen of these 
springs, all more or less hot ; the hottest being the Sprudel, 
167° Fahrenheit. The chemical composition of all the springs 
is much the same ; Glauber's salts, common salt, potash, carbon- 
ate of lime, magnesia and an impure salt mixed with 
earthy matter derived from the desintegration of the rotten 
stone called sprudel. This name is a generic one from Spru- 
del, the great central spring, or the rotten composite stone 
which underhes the entire surface as a crust, and when pierced 
by boring, or otherwise, at any point in this immediate valley, 
gives origin to a sprudel spring. The stone, sprudelstein, de- 
posited from these waters, is hard, many-colored, admits a high 
poHsh, and is manufactured into various ornaments. These 
several springs are recommended by the local doctors here ac- 
cording to the disease or strength of the patient ; different 
springs we are assured having different properties ; but in fact 
the springs are of one and the same water ; and I found these 
physicians in almost every case found that spring near where 
the patient happened to be boarding best adapted to the com- 
plaint. Of course it would not do to send patients out of the 
way to another spring, as they would be tabooed by the nu- 
merous boarding-houses, who would send their inmates to 
another doctor. 

These waters differ from all other mineral springs, and, pos- 
sessing very decided therapeutical properties, should never 
be used by the uninitiated without consulting a local physician. 
This necessity exists however, only as to how and when you 
should use the water, and how much you should drink, and in 
regard to your habits, diet, etc. Having learned this, you have 
no further use for the doctor, as far as the use of the water is 



42 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

concerned, and the frequent calls of the physician to see how 
the waters are affecting you should be discouraged. And while 
the waters have positive therapeutical virtues, the value of 
which in many liver complaints it would be difficult to over- 
estimate, they have by no means such peculiar or subtle or 
nicely-adjusted or dangerous properties as is often taught and 
believed here. The waters being all one and the same, differ- 
ing only as they differ in temperature, the hotter the water the 
stronger it is ; that is, the more salts it holds in solution. But this 
is of but little practical importance, and this difference would 
make but httle or no difference upon the patient or his disease. 
It makes, therefore, little or no difference which spring we use, 
nor need we confine ourselves to the use of one spring, but 
had just as well drink out of half a dozen, or indeed all, of them 
in turn. And yet this is a point much insisted upon ; of course 
it is, and by magnifying the properties of these waters, the local 
physicians may really honestly serve the best interest of his 
patients, who are thereby the better induced to observe strict 
rules of diet, etc. Nor is the amount of water drank of any 
great consequence, so long as it is not too active as a cathartic, 
and with most persons it does not act as a cathartic at all, being 
drank hot, the contained salts are absorbed. It is not, how- 
ever, to be inferred from this that these waters are inert and to 
be drank in enormous quantities. Of course no one but a 
fool would do this were they only hot, or indeed cold waters. I 
have drank a tumbler full of water from each of half a dozen of 
these springs the same day, without any appreciable results 
only such as would have resulted from the same quantity of 
water drank from the same spring. 

These physicians formerly practiced on the old system of 
making no specified charge, leaving it to the patient to pay 
what he thought proper, but it was very naturally discovered 
that many of these thought proper to pay nothing, while the 



CARLSBAD. 



43 



others did not think proper to pay enough. This system, how- 
ever well adapted to ante-railroad times, was found not in ac- 
cordance with this more accurate age, and very properly they 
now here, as elsewhere, make out regular charges, according to 
services rendered. As I was not a water-cure physician and 
unwilling to suppose that I knew as much as those who had 
made these waters a special study, I consulted Dr. Segar, an 
eminent physician and professor from Vienna, who visits these 
springs and practices here during the season, who recommend- 
ed my wife to use the Schlossbrunnen, which is one of the most 
popular, as it is one of the largest and hottest, of these springs, 
and as this spring had the additional advantage of being high- 
er up the hill, some 2,000 feet above the valley and near our 
pension, we were well pleased with the selection. We boarded 
at the Englisher Hof, with front and back room, large, good, 
light and well-furnished ; one of the thousand logis or board- 
ing houses here ; indeed the town of Carlsbad is made up of 
logis and hotels. The boarding-houses are built expressly for 
this purpose and with especial regard to sanitary conditions, 
which, being entirely under public inspection, are almost always 
good. These logis are fitted up with furnished rooms, where 
you can obtain rooms and breakfast, consisting of two boiled 
eggs, coffee, cold light-bread and butter. The coffee and 
bread, the latter under public inspection, are the best in the 
world ; the eggs always fresh, the butter fresh and good ; so 
much so is this the case that we soon become entirely satisfied 
with the fare, not wishing anything else. The charges for two 
furnished rooms, Hghts and breakfast, are quite reasonable. 
We pay for our two large, well-furnished rooms, fifteen guilders 
per week ; breakfast consisting of tea or coffee, bread and eggs, 
eighty kreutzers, and the same for supper, if obtained in the 
house. Dinner, and most generally supper, is obtained out cf 
the house at reasonable rates. One can live well here with 



44 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

large, comfortable, well-furnished rooms, for $2.50 or $3 per 
day — indeed for less. 

The cure and diet rules prescribed by physicians are, a glass 
of water, about six ounces, at 6 a. m., when, after walking 
about for half an hour, another glass is drank, and another at 
9, after which we breakfast, drink another glass at 11 a. m., 
take dinner at 1:30 p. m., after which most persons, ourselves 
among them, devote the afternoon to light walks, visiting some 
one of the numerous cafes, where we listen to music, or take 
excursions to greater distances, to some one of the many re- 
sorts, walks or drives, in which Carlsbad surpasses all other 
places. The most popular of these resorts is the Alte Wiese, 
and a most delightful place — promenade — it is. Situated be- 
tween the hill and the little mountain s4;ream, the Tepel, and 
is lined on either side by bright stores and shops, presenting a 
fine assortment of fine or taking goods, sprudelstein wares, 
etc. 

This delightful walk, some mile or more within the town, 
with numerous hotels and restaurants, continues as a beautiful 
shaded, graveled walk or drive severals miles up the val- 
ley of the Tepel to Pirkenhammer, with several beer gardens 
and cafcs along the route. Indeed, in almost every direction 
we may walk there are beautifully prepared paths, with neat 
cafes cosily placed in pleasant groves with music. 

Friday, Aug. 22nd. — Together with some St. Louis 
friends, Mr. and Mr. P., we made an excursion to one of the 
highest points around Carlsbad, and on which has been 
erected a tower, sixty feet high. From here we have an ex- 
tensive view of the beautiful surrounding country with the val- 
ley of the Eger with its numerous neat little farms, picturesque 
bordering hill-sides, groves of trees and clusters of houses sur- 
rounding the numerous manufactories of porcelain or 
Bohemian glass, great quantities of which are made here and 



CARLSBAD. 



45 



shipped to all parts of the world. But to my wife and Mrs. P. 
perhaps, the most interesting feature of this trip was the man- 
ner of making it. The hills, or mountains, surrounding Carls- 
bad are too steep for carriage roads. To meet this difficulty 
the city has a great number of esel (donkeys) not much larger 
than a Newfoundland dog, with small, low, two-wheeled car- 
riages, much like large baby-carriages at home, but much 
stronger. Wife and Mrs. P. took each one of these esel out- 
fits, with a boy walking by the head of the donkey as guide 
and driver, or rather leader. Mr. P. and I walked. To ladies 
unable to walk so far this makes a most enjoyable mode of 
travel. Wife became so fond of these donkey drives that she 
was never so well pleased as when in one of these carriages. 
These strong, patient, sure-footed ;.nimals pull the little car- 
riages with one person along the narrow roads that wind 
around the hills covered with dense forests, tacking first one 
way then another, much as a ship at sea, sailing against the 
wind, each tack or turn carrying us a little higher up the steep 
hill-side until the summit is reached. The distance was two 
miles and we were one and a half hours in making it. After 
taking a cup of excellent coffee at the cafe on the summit and 
resting an hour or more enjoying the picturesque landscape, 
we returned to the town, having been out four or five hours. 

Aug. 24th. — Took carriage and with some friends drove 
out to Gieshubel, some seven or eight miles. This is a very 
remarkable mineral water, pleasant-tasted, a natural soda- 
water which, with the addition of a little syrup, makes an 
effervescing soda-water, and when drank here at the spring, 
as pleasant a drink as that obtained at a soda fountain at 
home. Vast quantities of this mineral water are bottled and 
sent throughout Europe. I was told that last year the enor- 
mous quantity of five million bottles were put up here. The 
site of the springs, high up on a hill-side, with the extended 



46 bOUVENlRS OF TRAVEL. 

view of the surrounding country, its beautiful dark forests, 
picturesque hill and dale, held us here for hours. The entire 
drive which was along the narrow, rock-walled valley, or over 
the high points of the projecting hills that wall in the Eger, 
was most delightful, enchanting — nothing in nature can be 
more picturesque, more beautiful. The whole afternoon was 
taken up mth this pleasant excursion. 

When well enough, we employ a part of almost every after- 
noon in walking down to, and along up, the Alte Wiese, taking 
supper at some one of the numerous cafes. A favorite one is 
Pupp's, situated at the upper end of the Alte Wiese. 

Aug. 2^th. — Wife not so well for some days past, not 
able to get to the spring for the water, which I bring to her ; 
also have her meals sent from a neighboring restaurant, as she 
is confined to her room. Mr. and Mrs. P. left to-day for 
Munich on their way home. We shall miss them greatly, as 
they are most agreeable people, and then they formed a con- 
necting-link with home, as we felt with them here that we were 
not so entirely alone in the world as we shall now be. How 
long and dreary the time must appear when sick in this far-off 
land and alone, and how gladly will we turn our faces home- 
ward when our wanderings are over. 

Aug. 2gth. — Wife being somewhat better, I took an esel 
and carriage for her and went to the top of a lofty mountain 
hill overlooking the town. The road was very steep, winding 
around the hill through a thick forest wood, tacking back and 
forwards until the top was reached. The zigzag path more 
than doubles the distance. The view from the summit is 
somewhat obstructed, but at different points of the road, we 
had through openings in the forest, most enchanting panoramic 
views of the distant hills and valleys, with their beautiful little 
farms, as so many gardens. A cafe on the summit afforded 
us a pleasant rest and good cup of coffee. Several hours of 



CARLSBAD. 47 

the afternoon were spent in this excursion. We were entirely- 
alone, not knowing a person we saw during the trip, and yet 
we hardly felt this, so lovely are these communings with nature, 
picturesque and lovely as it is here. There was a voice in the 
silent wood, in the whisperings of the breeze as it toyed with 
the lofty forest trees above us, that spoke in a familiar tone, 
and as it was the voice of nature speaking to the heart needed 
no interpretation. 

Sept. nth. — For some ten days past wife not so well, con- 
fined to her room. We had,* however, been so fortunate as to 
make the acquaintance of several Americans, among them Mr. 
B., and his son, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, also Mr. R., of 
Philadelphia. To-day in company with these we visited 
Pirkenhammer to see the porcelain factory, also the Atelier of 
Gunther, a cunning worker in palm wood, and said to be the 
only person in possession of the art of giving to this wood its 
beautiful polish and fine finish, an art that has been kept as a 
secret in the family, and handed down from father to son for 
several generations. We purchased a glove-box of this beauti- 
ful wood, giving twenty guilders for it. 

Sept. ijth. — In company with Mr. R., drove out some eight 
miles to the beautiful village of Dallwitz, where are three cele- 
brated oaks. The largest of these is dedicated to the Bohemian 
poet and patriot Korner, whose patriotic poems did much in 
arousing his countrymen to resist the French, and who lost his 
fife in defense of his country against Napoleon. He also 
wrote a beautiful poem on these oaks, which has hallowed them 
to the present day with all true Bohemians, inspiring by their 
majestic beauty and patriotic associations additional love for 
fatherland. The entire drive along the valley of the Eger is 
enchantingly beautiful. Perhaps but few places in the world 
present more lovely landscape, hill and dale, neat, small 
farms embossed by the dark pine forests. The winding Eger 



48 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

with its narrow, fertile valley, with bordering mountains, whose 
dark pine forests are broken only by an occasional small 
peasant farm, the houses of which, while rude, serve to diver- 
sify the scenery, while the clusters of birch with their lighter 
green give additional variety and beauty to the landscape, to 
all of which the changed autumn leaves of maples and ash, 
with which the forests are intermixed, presents us with a picture 
as much more beautiful than any oil landscape painting as it 
is larger. But here in this country it is only nature in its pic- 
turesque loveliness that is lovely ; man with few exceptions 
lives in stolid ignorance unmoved by the stirring events of the 
nineteenth century. We took coffee in the open air at the 
Zii den drei Eichen, and drove home late in the afternoon, 
when hill and dale, forest and field, sparkled in their autumnal 
robes, mellowed by the rays of a setting sun. 

Sept. i6th. — In company with Mr. R. and Prof. , an 

Anglo-Bohemian, we drove to Elbogen, eight or ten miles from 
Carlsbad. The road for the most part runs up the narrow pic- 
turesque valley of the Eger, which with the adjacent heights 
present a most lovely and variegated landscape, where every 
admissible acre of land is cultivated, small farms with many 
Httle villages diversify and beautify the lovely view. Elbogen 
is one of the oldest castle towns in Bohemia and one of the 
most picturesque. The Eger makes here a sharp elbow bend 
almost surrounding the high projecting rock upon which the 
castle and town stand. In most places this rock presents per- 
pendicular walls from fifty to one hundred feet in height, and 
when the rock wall is deficient, a heavy stone wall has been 
built to the same height, making a most formidable stronghold, 
which before the invention of artillery must have been impregna- 
ble, and when defended by even a few brave men, capable of 
standing against the assaults of an army. Perched upon this 
lofty rock eminence, 250 feet above the river, this old casde, 



CARLSBAD. 49 

now used for a prison and poor-house, though neglected, stands, 
and will yet stand, for ages, while its walls must last forever, 
a very spectre standing out from the night of ages. When or 
by whom this old castle was built is utterly unknown, as it 
reaches far beyond the civilization of this part of the world — is 
prehistoric. It is known, however, to be over a thousand years 
old, and is first mentioned by the chroniclers of the eighth 
century, at which time it was old and its builders unknown. 

Doubtless away back in the early settlement of the country 
this old castle was the stronghold of some rude robber chief- 
tain, who was at the same time the protector and oppressor of 
his tribe, and in its old halls we niay well imagine was enacted 
many a bloody tragedy, while its deep, gloomy, prison walls 
have heard the last sad moans of many a helpless captive. 
Doubtless, too, these old halls have been thronged with the elite 
of the forest land, where brave men and woman, gaily decorated 
in barbaric splendor, danced to the sound of untaught music. 
But as no chronicler was here to leave to posterity the manner 
of these revels, or the songs of these forest minstrels, nor the 
dresses worn by court beauties that assembled here, we are left 
to conjecture, and that, too, without the imagination being aided 
by even the most imperfect knowledge of the manners or 
customs of these people. 

After getting an excellent dinner at the old, time-battered 
hotel, Zum Weisen, we returned home down the wild, narrow 
and weird gorge of the Eger, by Heiling Fels, where the river, 
forcing its way through a rocky defile, has left standing a num- 
ber of rock columns, which, standing at the foot of a pine 
covered mountain, on the banks of the river, present a strange, 
weird appearance, spectre-like ghosts of other conditions. 
Tradition, here more fortunate than with the old castle, gives us 
the origin of these stone pillars. "Once upon a time a 
shepherd, while attending his flocks upon the banks of the 



50 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Eger, met with the genius of the river, a beautiful fairy, with 
whom he fell violently in love. His flocks were deserted for the 
society of the beautiful princess. The fairy agreed to marry 
him on the condition that he would forget all others and re- 
main ever with her. To this he rea,dily assented, as he had no 
pleasure of life except in her company, readily swearing to 
forget all others and remain always with her. For some time 
he lived contentedly and happy with his beautiful fairy bride, 
forgetting home and the companions of his youth. But after a 
time he began to tire of his seclusion where his only compan- 
ion was his fairy bride. Thoughts of home and the long-absent 
but familiar faces of his former associates obtruded more and 
more upon his mind ; he became restless, silent, gloomy. This 
condition his fair young bride endeavored to dissipate by 
songs and enchantments, but finally the desire to visit again 
the haunts of men became so urgent that he obtained permis- 
sion from the fairy to do so if he would remain true in his love 
to his queen and return again within a given time. This he 
promised and swore to do, intending, no doubt, at the time, to 
keep his oath. But, unfortunately, at home he met with an old 
sweetheart, the beautiful companion of his youth and object of 
his 'first love, whose charms appeared to be only increased by 
long absence. Overcome by the return of his love for the 
beautiful companion of his youth he resolved to marry her and 
forget his fairy queen, not suspecting that as an invisible Fairy 
she was near by and fully aware of his perfidy, and, more for- 
tunate than many a neglected bride, had the power to punish. 
The day was appointed, the feast prepared, and with merry 
hearts the intended bride and bridegroom, with a gay com- 
pany of wedding guests repaired to the church, where mitered 
priest stood ready at the altar to perform the ceremony. But 
like many other human hopes and expectations these were 
doomed to meet a sad, a terrible disappointment. The fairy, 



CARLSBAD. 5 1 

enraged at the loss of her lover, invoked the aid of her wild 
and ever-obedient river. Thick mists began to darken the air, 
the mountains trembled, and from the earth startling moanings 
were heard, while high up the valley the turbulent river rose in 
an angry flood. A watery wall higher than the hills rolled down 
towards the town and church, where, paralyzed with fear, all 
stood unable to move ; nearer and nearer came the angry flood, 
which — the Eger now the embodiment of destruction — rolled 
down and over the church and multitudes of people, all of 
whom, with the town and church, were destroyed. But in order 
that the perfidy. of her shepherd-lover might stand in everlast- 
ing remembrance and warning to faithless lovers, instead of 
bearing all away in the flood they were turned into these stone 
pillars, where they stand as mute witnesses of all this to the 
present day." Now if anyone doubts the truth of this legend, 
let him visit this weird spot where he may see them all, just as 
the river left them on that fatal day. We returned home late 
in the evening by way of Aichs quite fatigued by our long but 
romantic drive. 

Sept. i8th. — Early in the morning, wife in an esel-carriage, 
in company with Mr. R., we went up to the top of the 
Hirschensprung, a lofty eminence almost overhanging our 
boarding house, but two miles to the summit by the winding 
road, where we took breakfast at a neat little cafe almost hid 
away among woodbines and wild flowers. The view in the 
clear atmosphere of the early morning, from this height which 
overhangs the town is most beautiful. On the topmost point 
is a cross ; near by, a statue of Peter the Great, of Russia, a 
good work, by Geidon ; near this is a small pyramid erected to 
the memory of Theressa, of Austria, a little beyond this is a 
neatly executed bronze deer, commemorative of the occurrence 
which gives name to this mountain peak. It is related and 
held as an article of faith by all true Carlsbaders, that Charles 



52 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

v., some hundreds of years ago, drove with his dogs to this 
point a mighty stag, where a perpendicular rock of hundreds 
of feet prevented a further flight, while all retreat was rendered 
impossible by the approach qf the king and his retinue ; hard- 
pressed by the blood-thirsty hounds, the monstrous stag leaped 
from this projecting rock into the valley, some half mile or 
more, and a thousand feet below. Alighting, it broke through 
the earth's crust at the point where the Sprudel now is. These 
healing waters springing up where the stag had disappeared, 
in the sprudelkessel deep below. Why not? 

For some time the weather has been delightful. Every day 
we have walked or driven to some one of the many pleasant 
resorts around Carlsbad, sometimes taking breakfast at the 
Yager and dinner or supper at Kaiser Park or Pupps, the 
beautiful groves and picturesque hill-tops and variegated parks 
now rendered greatly more beautiful by autumn-colored leaves, 
and yet Carlsbad is not a place where one would wish to 
remain long. Its far-off and isolated situation shuts out the 
great world, and without the society of friends the communing 
with nature grows monotonous. We have been here now 
six weeks. 

Sept. joth. — Passed the morning pleasantly with some 
friends, Mr. and Mrs. T., formerly of St. Louis, now of Lon- 
don, both highly- cultivated and pleasant people. In the 
afternoon, wife in the esel carriage, we went up to the highest 
mountain-top surrounding Carlsbad, some two miles off, and 
called Francis Joseph Heights. The ascent is made by a nar- 
row, winding path cut in the side of the mountain, along which 
the esel drew the little carriage with seeming ease, complaining 
not ; indeed the patient, good-natured animal really seems to 
enjoy it, but not, I am sure, as much as wife does. The 
summit is crowned with a high tower, from the top of which 
Carlsbad and a long range of the Tepel valley and distant 



CARLSBAD. 53 

hills are seen, as on a map, at our feet. It would be difficult 
to imagine the beauty and loveliness of this view. The' forests 
with their dark pines, light-green birches, bright, golden 
maples, crimson-colored ash and sumach leaves, while the 
little garden farms creeping up, or dotting the hill sides, break, 
with their manifest evidence of human life, the hushed beauty 
of nature. The evening was one of the loveliest of these 
northern autumn days, the sky cloudless, scarcely a breath of 
air disturbed the sleeping sere and yellow leaves, while the 
universal stillness was broken only by the song of birds, as 
they, gathered in the overhanging -trees, were in softest musical 
notes of instructive tenderness discussing with their assem- 
bled friends and newly-fledged families the preparations for 
their long annual migration to the distant sunny South. A 
restaurant is here during the season, but this had closed with 
the waning year, and its inmates, like the wandering Arab, had 
silently folded their tents and fled. The winged spirits of 
other days now hang as shadows of the past over and around 
us, whispering to the lonely lingerer here, Ichabod. We returned 
home down the winding, but now almost deserted, valley of the 
babbling Tepel, whose crystal waters seemed to flash less 
brightly as it meandered through the meadows now that the 
flowers had faded at the touch of the waning year, and the 
festive halls, with garlands dead, were no longer pressed by 
strangers' feet. We took coffee at the restaurant Kaiser 
Hof. Here, 6,000 miles from home and kindred and friends, 
save only those of the passing hour, and yet in our compan- 
ionship with nature almost forgetting that we were alone. 
Having spent the afternoon of the last day of our sojourn at 
Carlsbad in the most pleasant excursion of our lives, we 
returned home at 5 p. m., at which time the sun was hiding 
behind the Eger hills, and the evening shadows, like winged 
ghosts, were creeping athwart the dusky vale, and silently climb- 



54 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



ing the western slope of the hills to their fitting home in the 
dark pine forests. 

PRAGUE. 

Oct. 1st. — Left Carlsbad for Prague at 6 a. m. Morning 
cold, rainy. The hour of leaving was too early to get our 
breakfast before starting, an inconvenience felt the more 
acutely as we both were quite unwell, and this, added to the 
cold wet day, with the cars rather crowded by rough Bohemian 
boors, who would keep the windows up, gave us a most un- 
comfortable travel of five hours to Prague, where we arrived 
about eleven, cold, wet, sick and tired. Went to the hotel 
Englisher Hof, which we found to be both uncomfortable 
and unaccommodating; So much so, that we would not 
even stay to dinner, but sick and tired as we were, went to 
the Blauer Stern (Blue Star), a most excellent hotel, where 
we were made quite comfortable. 

Prague is a rather handsome city, but not near so much so 
as we had been led to expect. It has some 200,000 inhabi- 
tants, is the ancient capital of Bohemia, and is rather quaint 
or picturesque than beautiful. It was founded m the midst of 
the dark ages, built in the middle, and imperfectly decorated 
in the Renaissance, and presents many of the characteristics of 
all of these, and generally, we thought, the worst features of 
them. 

Took carriage and drove over the city. Visited the old 
Gothic Tower, built in 1470. Watched the complicated move- 
ments, while striking, of its old astronomical clock, made by 
Hanusch in 1790. The clock shows the globe-zodiac with 
the sun and month indices, shows the phases of the moon, 
the entrance of twilight, night and day. When it strikes small 
windows open of themselves and the twelve apostles appear at 
the windows. Death rings the bell and beckons to a man 



PRAGUE. 55 

who, not wishing his acquaintance, turns his head. It is 
curious and interesting, without possessing an amount of use- 
fulness to repay for so much mechanical ingenuity in con- 
structing it, and yet as we watched its curiously complicated 
automatic movements, while striking, we could but feel glad 
that it had been constructed. 

Few places have been more noted for religious factions than 
Prague. During the fifteenth and sixteenth century it was the 
stronghold of Protestants, who, known as Hussites, were, 
in their zeal, often guilty of great excesses. The burning at 
the stake of their great leaders, Huss and Jerome, failed, as is 
often the case, to suppress the reform movement, and with 
better-defined views as enunciated by Luther and Calvin, 
Prague, and indeed Bohemia, had become Protestant. But 
after the disastrous battle of White Hill, in which the Protes- 
tant army was destroyed, and its leaders afterwards beheaded 
by command of the bloody and bigoted Wallenstein, freedom of 
thought has been crushed out in this land. 

Visited the Jesuit College, Clementinum, also the University, 
the oldest university in Austria, and at one time the most im- 
portant, but through some intolerance a schism was produced 
when many students left Prague and founded the University of 
Leipsic, in 1409, since which time this University has been 
cursed with non-progressive ideas, and has gradually but con- 
stantly, declined until it is now of but little importance, while 
its rival at Leipsic, imbued with the spirit of progress and 
freedom of thought, has become one of the most important 
seats of learning in Europe. 

The Carlsbrucke, over the Moldau, is a splendid old struc- 
ture, but disfigured by a multitude of hideous statues of saints, 
which are scarcely less repulsive in their archaic execution than 
the heads of the decapitated Bohemian nobles and generals 
which they replaced. 



56 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The cathedral begun in 1395 is yet unfinished. It contains 
some good statues and paintings, with rehefs of saints, etc. By 
ascending the highest point in the town, the Abbey of Strakow, 
a really fine structure, containing some good statues and tombs 
with a good painting of the Virgin and Child by DLirer, we 
obtain a splendid view of the city, with its quaint structures 
dotting the valley and hill-sides of the Moldau, together with 
an extended view of the populous and fertile valley of the 
Moldau, a tributary of the Elbe. Visited the Jewish quarters 
and the old Synagogue, said to be the oldest Jewish temple in 
Europe, founded in the first century of our era, the lower part 
very old and built in the Byzantine style, the upper part, of 
the twelfth century, built in the Gothic style. To the Jew it is 
hallowed in its memories, to the tourist scarcely less so, as a 
connecting link between the present and the remote past, to 
the philanthropist even more so as a witness of their wrongs, 
and to the philosopher, most of all, as evidence of the persist- 
ence of a faith which no cruelty has been able to stamp out. 
In its old cemetery, for the last hundred years closed to further 
interments, are many time-worn, moss-covered tombs and 
gravestones with strange Hebrew inscriptions and devices more 
than a thousand years old. Indeed, some of them may have 
been placed over the contemporaries of Josephus. This 
crowded, dingy, antique Jewish quarter speaks in its appear- 
ance of the manners and customs of the land and race of 
Rachel. Not more of Rachel at the well than of Rachel 
weeping over the woes of her children, who for nearly 2,000 
years have toiled and suffered here. These quaint old storm- 
battered houses that cluster around this old Synagogue have 
witnessed the storming, sacking and burning of the city through 
all the dark and middle ages, bidding defiance to the corroding 
tooth of time, while the religion, manners and customs they re- 
flect in their oriental shadows maintain an adamantine firmness 



DRESDEN. 



57 



that has so blunted the tooth of time that in despair it would 
seem no longer to trouble them. Will not these that have 
outlived all the manners and customs of the world outlast time 
itself? The devout Jew believes so. 

Oct. 3rd. — Weather being cold, wet, disagreeable, and 
not being well, and there being nothing particularly worth see- 
ing in Prague, we left the city for Dresden. But not being 
willing to be again annoyed, we took a first-class car to 
ourselves, by which we secured great comfort in our six 
hours' travel to Dresden, when we stopped at the Hotel 
Belvue, a most excellent hotel situated near the Opera 
House. 

DRESDEN. 

Dresden, to the tourist the most important city in Germany, 
is situated on either side of the beautiful Elbe, which is here 
spanned by several fine bridges, the most important of which is 
the Augustenbrucke, first built in the thirteenth century. It is 
the capital of Saxony, whose king resides here; has a popula- 
tion of 250,000 inhabitants, with so large a number of Ameri- 
cans residing here, that they have what is known as the 
American Quarter. And for the purpose for which most of 
them live here, educating their children, there is perhaps no 
place more desirable. Aside from its beautiful pubhc buildings, 
parks, gardens, drives, etc., its picture galleries and museums, 
constituting it the art city of Germany, attract here all lovers 
of art visiting Germany. 

With commendable pride the city has erected a noble struc- 
ture suitable for the preservation and exhibition of one of the 
finest collections. of paintings, by the old masters, in the world. 
These grandest creations of art, annually attract great multi- 
tudes to Dresden. The crowning glory of this collection, and 
indeed would be of any like collection in the world, is the 
great work of the world's greatest painter Raphael's Cistine 



58 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Madonna. This, like most of the works of this great artist, is 
an altar piece, and ^Yas painted for the Black Friars at Pia- 
cenza. It is eight feet long and six feet vnde, and is of such 
transcendent worth, of such marvelous splendor, that like the 
noonday sun, while illuminating all other objects, remains it- 
self the brightest of all. The transcendent glory of this picture 
breaks upon us as we enter the gnllery with the greater effect 
from the fact that here, for the first time, it may be, we are 
brought in contact ^^ath the divine as shown in the human. In 
aU other paintings of men or women, no matter how beautiful 
or marvelous may be the form or finish of the work, the pic- 
ture is only human, but here we have an addition of what we 
have perhaps not even conceived the possibility, the divine 
given not less clearly than the human. I know of but one 
other work of human hands where this blending of the divine 
and human is given, the Venus of Milo in the Louvre at 
Paris, and this not so clearly or perfectly or distinctly done 
as in this wondrous painting. Now how is this ? and why do 
we recognize this introduction of the divine element when it is 
quite certain that we know, and can know, nothing of how 
divinity would look were we to see it ? In the case of this 
divine Madonna the painter has produced a part of this effect 
by the position and surroundings, and completed it by en- 
larging the space between the eyes. The Virgin is seen stand- 
ing on not/ling but space, ^nth the curtains that hide the in- 
finite from mortal vision, drawn back and the Madonna with 
the Child in her arms appears as though just stepped to the 
front from infinite space, with her large eyes looking out, not 
upon the earth, but the universe, which spreads -out in infinite 
space before her, and evidently included within the range of 
vision. 

It is certain that if she were standing on something, 
even a cloud, and looking at something, even the world, 



DRESDEN. 



59 



this illusion would not exist. And as much as we may admire 
the lofty grandeur of the Child, yet we see that it is a child 
and not a God we are looking at, it is in the Virgin, not the 
Child, the divinity is manifested. Now the strange part of 
this is, that, while we do not know the divine, we here recog- 
nize it. I suppose this grows out of our anthropomorphic 
ideas. The subHmest form with which we are acquainted is 
the human, and as man is to us the noblest of all existing 
beings, we naturally suppose that if he could be exalted 
greatly above what he now is he would be a god. All the 
efforts of the ancient sculptors were upon this idea, as in the 
Jupiter of the Greeks, and as shown in the Venus of Milo. 
Here in this Madonna the something added is not simply more 
humanity, for this is given to the highest ideal conception in 
the beautiful woman, beyond which we can have no concep- 
tion of humanity being more exalted, more perfect. The added 
something here is something more exalted, more perfect, more 
sublime than merely the human. The artist here without en- 
larging the figure has infinitely enlarged the capabilities, the 
possibilities, the attributes — has removed the figure from place 
into infinite space, while the drawn curtains are manifestly 
those that hide the habitation of the eternal. I have, as stated, 
never met with this marvelous effect in the same degree, in 
any other work — no, not even in Raphael's other Madonnas, 
which, though wondrously beautiful, are still women, with all 
the perfection, loveliness and beauty of surpassingly beautiful 
women, yet only women, while here is a goddess as well as 
woman. And the angels that hold back the curtains are mani- 
festly not more a part of heaven or the unseen world than the 
figure that stands between the curtains with the Child in her 
arms and looks out upon immeasurable space, which we are 
here made to feel her vision embraces. 

St. Sixtus is a grand figure intended to represent not a 



6o SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

saint alone, but Christianity ; and as he stands meekly, rev- 
erently on her right hand, the spirit of Christianity is repre- 
sented, while St. Barbara, a most beautiful and lovely young 
woman, though reverently kneeling on the left of the Virgin, 
and most manifestly quite devout and reverent, has a coquet- 
tish air that unconsciously betrays the fact that she knows she 
is very pretty, and herself worthy of much adoration. Now 
this thought so beautifully expressed in the coquettish appear- 
ance of this beautiful saint enhances the mterest, as it increases 
the meaning of the painting. St. Barbara is religion, not en- 
tirely as it came from heaven, but as it is after being assimila- 
ted with humanity, still pure and good and true and holy, but 
all these as manifested by humanity. The two lovely cher- 
ubs at the lower part of the picture, with the brightest, pretti- 
est faces ever known to earth or heaven, although also looking 
out over infinite space, fail to embrace it, as do the Madonna 
and Child, yet beautifully connect the eternal and the finite. 

The more we study this picture, the more lovely, grand, 
majestic, glorious it becomes ; and had Raphael never painted 
anything else, this alone would have given him a bright im- 
mortality. These opinions of mine I am ^uite sure are hon- 
est, and the result of impressions I hav©. received in seeing and 
studying this painting ; nor have they grown out of any love I 
had for Madonna pictures — in fact I had seen so many of 
these as mere daubs and the objects of superstitious regard 
that I had conceived a contempt, almost a horror, for these 
pictures, but this has so won upon heart and brain that I am 
quite ready to forgive anyone who may make it an object of 
adoration. 

Here also is a celebrated Madonna and Child by the great 
German artist, Hans Holbien, which while it doubdess pos- 
sesses much excellence, does not impress me favorably. The 
Madonna is certainly beautiful, but the Child has a rather 



DRESDEN. 6 I 

peevish, sickly a])pearance, looking as though it might have 
Cholera Infantum, which certainly mars the effect of this 
much praised work of this truly great master. The i)icture is 
known as the Meyer Madonna, from the fact that it was ])ainl- 
ed for, and included the portraits of the Burgomaster, Meyer and 
his family. Since this criticism on this picture was made, it has 
been pronounced by competent authorities an early co})y by 
some Dutch master, an opinion in which I heartily concur, as 
this might account for the imperfections pointed out in the 
Child ; imperfections which we are glad to find Holbein is not 
accountable for. Here too, is Battoni's Penitent Magdalene, 
also a Magdalene reading by Correggio ; two paintings of 
rival excellence, each beautiful to perfection, lovely beyond 
comparison, as each represents a different type of female 
beauty, and each too perfectly beautiful to be compared to 
anything but itself. Titian's Head of Christ, which has served 
as a model for all subsequent painters and sculptors, is one of 
the gems of this gallery. . A Madonna by Murillo, one of his 
greatest pictures, and only second to the best of Raphael's 
Madonnas. Indeed, this Madonna by Murillo, is of the very 
highest perfection. The style is entirely ^different from that of 
Ra.phael, so much so that it would be difficult, and perhaps 
hardly fair, to compare this Madonna by Murillo to one by 
Raphael ; both may be pronounced perfect in their style, per- 
mitting no alteration without injury, and forbidding any at- 
tempt at improvement. 

We attended the Opera, which is one of the finest opera 
buildings in Europe. The Queen of Sheba was being per- 
formed, and had a successful run of several weeks. The 
music was very fine, the scenery truly gorgeous, and the dresses 
regal. I was astonished that such dresses and scenery, and 
so much musical talent of the highest order could be produced 
at the |)rice of admission, and during a run of only four weeks. 



62 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL, 

even in this city of so much culture, but was informed that the 
Kaiser gives this Opera House 200,000 marks ($50,000) an- 
nually, which of course renders such expense and such excel- 
lence possible. 

Oct. ijth. — Visited the Moreau Monument, erected upon 
the spot where this commander fell mortally wounded. It 
is on an elevated ridge overlooking the entire city, and a long 
range of the Elbe, here quite a river, giving a beautiful pano- 
ramic view of the city and adjacent country. Returned by way 
of the palace, where we visited the Green Vault, which con- 
tains an immense collection of great value and beauty, con- 
sisting of the jewels and furniture of kings and queens of Sax- 
ony, among them the crown jewels, great diamonds and pre- 
cious stones in incredible quantities, costly royal baubles suffi- 
cient to found a city, or indeed to support one, or feed the 
hungry and clothe the naked of a province. Visited also the 
Japanese collection, a rare and beautiful collection of Chinese, 
Japan, French, and Dresden porcelain, glass, etc., many of 
these of great size and fabulous price, the gift of kings and 
emperors, or royal purchases. Visited also the Archaelogical, 
Mineralogical, Geological and Ethnological Museum, a most 
valuable, interesting and instructive collection which the visitor 
to Dresden will not fail to see or appreciate. 

BERLIN. 

Berlin, the most important city within the German Empire, 
with a population of 1,200,000, dates back, as do nearly all 
of these German towns, not further than the ninth or tenth 
century, previous to which Germany only had existence as a 
vast forest, swarming with wild, semi-barbaric men, mostly 
known as Scandinavians, whose habitations stretched back into 
the unknown regions of the North, whose unknown forests 
seemed to swarm with men as multitudinous as its leaves. 



BERLIN. 63 

True, we read of Goths, Ostrogoths, Huns, Alemani, but by the 
Romans these interminable swarms of warhke barbarians were 
classed as Scandinavians, belonging to the forests and not to 
cities. It is situated in the flat, sandy and unromantic plain of 
the Spree. The location is such as to prevent the city pre- 
senting so good an appearance as it would were it more favor- 
ably situated, while the entire absence of the mediaeval appear- 
ance seen in some other of the German cities, gives it a less 
interesting appearance than it might otherwise possess, pro- 
ducing, in despite its many objects of interest, to one visiting it 
for the first time, a feeling of disappointment. It was until 
lately the capital of one of the German States only, and while 
this, Prussia, was the most important of these States, it was of 
small size. Yet such was the worth of this people that both 
their State and capital assumed great importance in Europe, 
waging war or defending themselves against the most power- 
ful empires. But now that Berlin is not only the capital of 
Prussia, but practically that of the great German Empire, the 
vast resources of which centre here, it is rapidly becoming the 
most important city in Europe. And if, when the capital of 
the small kingdom of Prussia, it was able to maintain the suc- 
cessful rivalry with Vienna, the capital of the former mighty 
empire of Austria, may we not well expect that all rivalry will 
soon cease in the overwhelming importance of this, the capital 
of the great military empire of Europe. 

The first place to which the comer to Berlin naturally resorts 
is the Unter den Linden^ and this, while comparatively hand- 
some from its great width (200 feet) and long lines of old 
linden and chestnut trees, with the emperor's and crown 
princes' palaces. Opera House, and other palatial buildings, 
statues and monuments, like the city in general, produces a 
feeling of disappointment. The street is really not improved 
by all these as much as we would suppose it must necessarily 



64 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

be. The lindens are uneven in size and height, are often un- 
thrifty in appearance, and not unfrequently missing, while this 
defect is not supplied by the chestnut trees which often present 
the untidy appearance of the lindens ; and then, perhaps, from 
the unfavorable topography of the city, the palaces and palatial 
buildings do not appear to the best advantage — fail to impress 
us as we would expect. And, then, while there are many 
things to be seen of great interest, with the exception of the 
Zoological Gardens and the Egyptian Museum, both of the 
highest merit, there is produced a painful feeling of disappoint- 
ment, and this is further increased on visiting the picture 
galleries, where we find a great collection of paintings of much 
merit, but few or none of the first-class, and when even by the 
great masters, they are never their best works. Added to all 
these unfavorable facts, things really beautiful, as palaces, 
churches, etc, have no historical importance, are not hallowed 
by associations. We must leave the immediate city to become 
really interested. 

POTSDAM. 

Oct. 2gth — Visited Potsdam by way of the sylvancastle of 
Babelsberg, an old castle still occupied by the Emperor during 
a part of the summer, and containing many paintings, 
principally portraits of royal personages — a multitudinous host 
here in Germany. The palace is a beautiful Renaissance 
structure, picturesquely situated in a forest wilderness, the 
unbroken wildness of which gives no indications of the palace 
near by until, turning a sharp bend in the road, the old palace is 
immediately before us nestled away amidst grand old forest 
.trees, which, with the tiny lake in front, give an air of quiet re- 
pose that must be most grateful to the aged emperor during 
his retreat here from the din and care of busy Berlin. 

From here we drove on to Sanssouci, the former palace 
residence of Frederick the Great. It is a beautifully situated 



POTSDAM. 65 

long range of one story buildings yet, notwithstanding the 
cheerful surroundings, rather gloomy-looking. This palace 
possesses great interest to all true Prussians from its intimate 
association with the Great Monarch, and is visited with much 
the same awe and reverence with which a crusader may be 
supposed to have approached the holy sepulcher at Jerusalem. 
We were politely shown through the palace by an intelligent 
attache who pointed out and explained many things that might 
have escaped observation, and many more that would not 
have been so well understood. 

In the death-bed chamber of Frederick the Great, stands a 
clock, with the hands pointing to twenty minutes past two 
o'clock, the moment of the great king's death. The clock 
stopped, we are told, at this moment and has stood, and still 
stands, as a mute but instructive guardian spirit of this chamber, 
pointing, and has for 100 years pointed all comers to the 
moment and the hour when in 1786 the spirit of this truly great 
king passed from the scenes of his earthly glor}/. It has been 
intimated by the unsympathetic sceptic, that this faithful sen- 
tinel was stopped, but I am quite ready to believe all that is 
here related of the illustrious monarch, and really felt a tender 
regard for this old clock that refused to move when he who 
had so long attended and loved it, was forever still, which I 
am sure the less credulous can not feel. Frederick William 
IV. also died here. Many of the paintings and much of the 
furniture of Frederick the Great are still here, and much as he 
left them 100 years ago. The room he fitted up for his mer- 
curial friend, Voltaire, is much as when Voltaire last saw it, and 
in a rage left Sanssouci never to return. Frederick had a real 
attachment and love for this great Frenchman, however little 
he may have liked the French in general. There was much 
in common between these two great men, both monarchs in 
their line, Voltaire with his inexhaustible fund of humor and 



66 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

wit, a greait writer and poet, was to the great warrior a most 
congenial companion, and then, perhaps, the great French- 
man's want of faith in the Christian rehgion, and hatred of 
priests, most of all made him a welcome guest at Sanssouci, as 
in this Frederick found sentiments in harmony with his own. 
During Voltaire's temporary absence, Frederick had this room 
in his palace fitted up with special reference to Voltaire's char- 
acteristics — numerous monkeys with distorted bodies and 
ludicrous grimaces, and parrots with open mouths and wriggling 
bodies, were worked into the walls as bas or alto reliefs. The 
room was fantastically furnished and ludicrously frescoed. 
This so disgusted and enraged Voltaire that he engaged in a 
violent quarrel with Frederick — and these two had had many 
quarrels — and left for France where he was when his friend 
Frederick the Great died. It were a pity that these two con- 
genial spirits should have been thus separated, as it is highly 
probable that they had for each other more true affection than 
for anyone else. Both were truly great — Voltaire as mighty 
with the pen as was Frederick, the greatest warrior of his times, 
with the sword. Well there is a melancholy pleasure in think- 
ing that these congenial spirits have long since joined company, 
where no monkey or parrot images will again separate them. 
Voltaire's picture, an excellent work of art, as well as most 
striking likeness, painted by the king himself, still hangs in this 
room, and is one of the palace's greatest ornaments, as it 
brings us by its presence in direct communion with the great 
king, and scarcely less great wit and poet. Indeed to me this 
picture possessed far greater interest than those of royal per- 
sonages by great artists, that hung upon the palace walls. 

The spirit of the great monarch so pervades these halls, 
chambers, the entire palace and grounds, that we are insensibly, 
as if by an unseen force, awed into a reverence for the place. 
Immediately in front of, and near to, the palace door are 



POTSDAM. 67 

buried his faithful hounds and war-horse, and here too, the 
great king wished to be buried, that these faithful companions 
might keep him company, if not in the spirit world, surely in 
dust. And if these have spirits that also are immortal — and 
who can say they have not — surely the faithful attendance and 
devotion they gave in life are guarantees of watchful care in 
the spirit land that but few human friends could give. I could 
but look upon this striking instance of man's attachment to, 
and kind regard for, animals whose devotion to duty, watchful 
care, and desire to serve or please never tired, as one of the 
better traits of our nature, and more exalted the great 
monarch in my esteem than his exploits upon the battle-field. 
How unkind and how unwise in man to wish or willingly believe 
in a final separation at death from these, the most faithful and 
true, and often the only devoted and utterly unselfish friends, 
he had in life. What human spirit friends would more certain- 
ly scent from afar, and drive off the spirit terrors of an unseen 
world, then the spirits of these faithful dogs who through life 
had loved to battle with storm and darkness through the 
silent watches of the night in guarding their much loved 
master ; and as they preceded the great king how gladly would 
their v/atchful spirits leap to meet him at his coming ? I must 
confess that I viewed this burial place of his faithful war- 
horse and hounds with feelings scarce less reverent than those 
felt in his death-bed chamber, with its dumb sentinel clock 
that refused to measure time, when he, for whom it was so 
long accustomed to measure it, was no longer of time — had 
passed its bourne for a shoreless eternity, and I painfully re- 
gretted to know that Frederick's last wishes were not com- 
plied with — that he was not buried here. 

. From Sanssouci we drove to the new palace, built, it is said, 
by Frederick the Great to convince the world that he, nor his 
much -loved and loving Prussia, was not impoverished by the 



68 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

long wars that he had waged for the maintainance of the 
autonomy of Prussia. These long wars had been successfully 
maintained against the united and overwhelming armies of the 
two most powerful nations of Europe, France and Austria, 
whose irresistible forces overran and laid waste with fire and 
sword, his small kingdom of Prussia. But again and again 
when they thought they had certainly crushed the spirit and 
exhausted the resources of this war-like people, were they 
undeceived by Frederick and his small band of Spartan heroes, 
every man of whom fought 

"As though 'twere he, 
On whose sole arm hung victory." 

Suddenly, and at an unexpected moment, Kke an eagle from 
his eyre, or a wounded Hon from his lair he fell or sprung upon 
the spoiler, striking with the force of the fierce thunderbolt, 
at which whole armies went down before this unconquerable 
band of heroes, who fought for God and their native land, with 
a strength that 'twere suicide to meet. 

Well, if this were indeed his object in building this palace, 
the proof was certainly convincing, as it manifestly cost a vast 
sum to erect this building and adorn its 200 rooms, many of 
them decorated in the most beautiful or gorgeous manner, and 
furnished with the most costly garniture of the times. Inlaid 
tables, fine vases, mirrors, clocks, paintings, frescoes, and 
many other articles of truly royal splendor, still remain in the 
rooms, some of which are occupied as a summer residence by 
the Crown Prince of Prussia. One room of great size has its 
entire walls finished with shells, minerals and precious stones, 
which of themselves cost large sums of money. 

Just beyond the Bradenburg Gate, a structure of much 
interest standing at the terminus of the Unter den Linden, is 
the monument of Victory, erected to commemorate the 
destruction of the French Empire, and glorious triumph of the 



CHARLOITENBURG. 69 

German army, in the Pranco-German war. It is a beautiful 
structure, 200 feet high, built of granite and ornamented with 
French cannon, on the sides are frescoes and bas reliefs of 
Sedan and other battles. From its lofty summit we have a 
fine view of Berlin, its palaces, churches and public buildings, 
the broad Unter den Linden, and adjoining country with the 
forest of the Tiergarten, which latter as seen from here pre- 
sents the appearance of a primeval wilderness, the fitting 
habitation of wild beasts and savage men, but in fact is a 
beautiful cultivated forest park with its flower beds, trimmed 
trees and graveled roads and winding artistic paths, constitut- 
ing it one of the most beautiful forest parks in the world, where, 
invited by the loveliness and quietude of its sylvan retreats, 
we fall into revery, when the imagination peoples its grottoes 
with fairies, and its streams and miniature lakes with nymphs 
who gambol to the dulcet notes of birds, quite unconscious of 
the immediate presence of the great city with its din and stir 
of human life. 

CHARLOTTENBURG. 

Nov. 8th. — Visited to-day the old suburban town of Char- 
iottenburg, with its old palace, erected in 1699, long the resi- 
dence of Sophia Charlotte, wife of Frederick the Great, and 
where are buried Queen Louise and her husband, William 
III., whose mausoleum we visited first before entering the 
palace. The mausoleum is approached through a long 
avenue lined on either side by rows of beautiful trees, covered 
all the way to their tops with ivy, which gives them a melan- 
choly beauty, a quiet, sombre appearance, well becoming the 
surrounding of the dead. Indeed I never saw a spot that 
seemed more pervaded with that spirit of stillness so naturally 
associated with death. The very leaves were hushed to 
silence, lest by their rustling they might disturb the slumber- 
ing dust that reposes here. 



yo SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The statues of the royal pair, in white Carrara marble, lie 
side byside, as though sleeping. They must have been quite 
handsome in life ; the lovely queen images in this beautiful 
statue a sleeping angel. If their sleep is as quiet and peace- 
ful as this lovely place, it were a pity to awaken them. A 
beautiful candelabra with three Fates is by Rausch, another, the 
three Hor^, by Tick. Returning to the palace, we passed 
through the beautiful small palace garden, laid out by the 
world-renowned landscape-gardener, De Notre, landscape- 
gardener to Louis XIV., who planned the enchanting gardens 
at Marseilles. 

We were politely shown through the palace by an intelligent 
young woman, who, strange to say, refused any compensation 
for her trouble and really valuable services. This old palace 
is occupied at present by the crown Prince of Meiningen, 
who, though a Prince, can occupy but a small part of this 
immense structure, which is really large enough for several 
full-grown kings. Like all the palaces we have visited, 
whether inhabited or not, it contains many costly royal 
baubles, tapestries, inlaid tables, rare and beautiful ancient 
vases, clocks, and cabinets of rare and excellent workmanship, 
numerous old oil paintings, portraits of kings and queens, 
courtiers and court beauties. Many of these old paintings 
astonish us by the freshness of the colors. 

Our visit through these old halls was made the more pleasant 
and instructive, not alone by the intelligent guide, who pointed 
out and named the different portraits and objects of interest, 
but also by an old Anglo-German lady who had accepted our 
invitation to accompany us, and who seemed to have by heart 
the history, private and public, of the entire royal families of 
Germany, with their deeds, hopes and fears, virtues and vices, 
all of which was given with such clearness and minuteness of 
detail that at the time I felt quite competent to write a history 



CHARLOTTENBURG. 7 1 

of the court of Berlin. These royal portraits and royal baubles 
extend back to times antedating Frederick the Great, silent 
but impressive witnesses of other days. But all this royal 
splendor, inviting perpetual residence here, did not enable them 
to evade the great reaper Death, who seems to have revelled 
here as if in high carnival, loving, as it would appear, a royal 
mark, making these royal halls like those of a wayside inn, 
the transient abode of passing guests, where royal personages 
met and jostled each other on their great highway to the 
tomb, passed on, making room for others, who for more than 
200 years have followed each other in mournful procession, 
the order of which these portraits give us. 

Yet, in despite of all this. I am satisfied it is quite worth 
while being a king, for while these may not baffle death they 
certainly profit by baffling others, as of all this splendor none 
of it is the creation of their hands, but was wrung from the toil- 
ing masses. How different the fortunes of men ! How many 
sow, in this land, who also reap, but the product of their honest 
harvest toil is not for them, but for the privileged classes. 

Visited the Aquarium, a place of much interest, as we meet 
here with marine and fresh water animals gathered from every 
clime, with tanks so arranged, by an intelligent study of their 
habits and habitats, that they meet here all the requirements 
of their respective natures, and flourish as if at home, whether 
from arctic or tropical seas or rivers. 

What strange inhabitants water, as well as the land, hath I 
For what possible purpose were some of these strange, imper- 
fect and uncouth things created, or how developed ? Doubtless 
they have their use in the great plan of the universe and also 
their allotment of happiness', but it is difficult, yea, often quite 
impossible, to see the one or the other. Indeed, the word 
happiness which I have here used, is entirely misapplied, is a 
misnomer, as it is impossible to suppose a stone or flower 



7 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

happy, and yet not more so than to suppose this of some of 
these things that are scarcely lifted out of the inorganic world, 
while others so closely form the connecting link between plants 
and animals that naturalists are divided as to which kingdom 
they belong. Who can say that a polyp or sponge is happy ? 
These things exist, and in them we see life as 'tis in ocean, but 
how crude the forms, how strange the motions I and yet, "all 
are but parts of one stupendous whole.'- And perhaps there 
may be some satisfaction in knowing that if they exist ^^^thout 
enjoyment, without happiness, they are without the want of it. 

VIENNx^. 

On approaching Vienna next morning, we found the ground 
covered with snow, and it was still snowing. This was the 
first snow we had seen this season, and with the strange aspect 
of the country, the extended level plain dotted over with small 
farms and peasants" cottages, was really pretty. Arrived in 
Vienna at 8 a. m. 

Vienna, the capital of Austria, is situated in the broad valley 
of the Danube, here a large river, contains 1,200,000 inhabi- 
tants, and next to Paris, is the most beautiful city in Europe. 
It has many broad and well-paved streets with its principal 
one, the Ring-strasse, of an average width of 160 feet. This 
beautiful street is much more handsome than the celebrated 
Unter den Linden of Berlin, and longer than the Champs 
Elysees of Paris, while the palatial houses that line it on either 
side, are more uniformly beautiful than those of either of these 
streets. This and the Graben-strassc are the principal shop- 
ping streets, and, with their bright shops filled with elegant and 
costly wares, with sidewalks and stores crowded with fashion- 
ably and costly-dressed ladies, quite rival the more fashionable 
boulevards of Paris. Indeed as a centre of taste and fashion. 
Vienna is only second to Paris, of which it constantly reminds 
us. It is celebrated for its handsome women. 



VIENNA. 73 

Many of the public buildings are grand, beautiful, palatial. 
It can hardly be that the government could have built them, 
for this is bankrupt, with its currency at 26 per cent, discount. 
Many of these fine structures must have been built by public- 
spirited, wealthy individuals, or the money raised by some 
direct taxation on the industry of the city of Vienna, which is 
prosperous. Evidence of this local prosperity is seen in the 
splendid private villas, and long rows of palatial business 
houses, stores and shops, filled with bright wares, indicative of 
industry and thrift. A native vigor and industry inherent in 
this people have made them rich and prosperous in despite 
the shameful misrule of the land for centuries, and in despite 
the degrading and destructive subordination, practically at 
least, of the temporal to the spiritual powers. Kings and 
rulers have often been but puppets in the hands of their eccle- 
siastical advisers. 

Great prosperity of the merchants, artizans and mechanics, 
has brought its attendent blessings of more commodious 
houses, and an art culture, as seen in the improved style of 
architecture and estabhshment of art galleries, museums, opera 
houses, etc. The Imperial Opera House, a beautiful Renais- 
sance structure, and among the finest buildings of the kind in 
Europe, seats 3,000 spectators. The New Exchange, also a 
Renaissance structure, cost 8,000,000 florins. 

So important have become the art treasures collected here, 
that they make this a most desirable point to the tourist, while 
their scientific attainments have made the Vienna medical 
schools and hospitals the most important of the age, the med- 
ical Mecca, to which flock medical students from all parts of 
the world. 

Nov. lyth. — Visited the treasury, which contains the royal 
collections for 600 or 800 years, consisting of helmets, swords, 
pistols, goblets and drinking-horns, richly set with pearls and 



74 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

diamonds. These swords and pistols of kings were very 
properly ornamented with jewels, as they were only for show. 
Very few kings venture their precious lives by using them in 
defense of the country; those of heroes thus ornamented, 
detract from the merit of their owners. Strange and costly 
watches and clocks, among them the first clock made, in 
which the pendulum was used to measure time, the Austrian 
regalia crowns and crown jewels. The collection of diamonds, 
jewels and precious stones alone would buy a city. The 
crown of the empress is brilliantly ornamented with diamonds, 
one of these weighs 133 carats, and is valued at $300,000, 
numerous stars and garters covered with diamonds and pre- 
cious stones. One order, that of the Golden Fleece, contains 
150 brilliants, with one, the central piece, as large as an Eng- 
lish walnut. A scarf of the Grand Order of Maria Theresa, 
contains 548 brilliants, many of these of great size and beauty. 
The coronation robe of Napoleon, the silver cradle of his son, 
the king of Rome, weighing 500 lbs. Indeed, after seeing 
this vast collection of royal baubles, one scarcely wonders that 
the government is bankrupt; whole generations have been 
plundered to administer to the vanity of Emperors. 

Another room here is of great interest, containing many rare 
and valuable relics of unquestionable genuineness, being en- 
dorsed, proved by that most reliable of human testimony, 
legends, as given in dreams, visions, miracles, etc., and these 
endorsed by the guide who shows them. These objects are 
themselves often of great interest, and then the pleasure we 
feel in viewing them is greatly enhanced by the positive assur- 
ance we feel that, here at least, there is no mistake, and con- 
sequently no room for the doubt we feel in seeing and hearing 
some other things. All doubts which might lessen the pleas- 
ure the tourist would otherwise feel, being dismissed, we proceed 
to notice a few of these inestimable relics. In one case, we 



VIENNA. 75 

saw carefully preserved, as indeed it should be, a large piece 
of the true cross, the veritable cross on which Christ was cru- 
cified ; no mistake here. The cross was carefully buried by 
the disciples, and a thousand years afterwards its place of se- 
cretion was revealed, in a dream, to an empress saint, and it 
was dug up by some pious monks ; and then it is pleasant to 
feel that our faith in this piece being of the true cross, as thus 
revealed, is not affected by our knowledge that enough pieces 
of this true cross have been disposed of to build a man-of-war. 
Why not ?- Who would doubt that, like Prometheus' liver, it 
grows as fast as consumed ? Also we were shown a piece of 
the apron Christ wore, as well as a piece of the cloth that cov- 
ered the table at the Last Supper, and what is of perhaps even 
more interest, the spear-head that pierced the Savior's side, the 
very spear, proofs positive. Well it is a formidable instru- 
ment, that leaves no wonder that it killed. 

Nov. 20th. — Visited the Belvidere Picture Gallery, which 
contains a large collection of the old masters, Perugino, 
Correggio, Titian, Raphael, Murillo, Rubens, Van Eyck, Van 
Dyck, Durer, Holbein and others. But while this gallery con- 
tains many works of much interest, yet very few great or first- 
class works^ are found here ; none of these are the best works 
of these artists. And yet this and other picture galleries of 
Vienna possess no secondary importance to lovers or students 
of art, as the great number of pieces from the different schools 
furnish a most excellent study of the different schools. There 
are a number of other collections of paintings here, but the 
want of a suitable place for collecting together and properly 
exhibiting these and other works of art now scattered through 
the city in numerous collections, private and public, has here- 
tofore prevented Vienna taking her proper place in the art 
world. This want is being now met by the erection of two 
large and splendid buildings, separated by an open court. The 



76 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

one for paintings, the other as a museum. When these are 
completed and the works of art collected and properly ar- 
ranged, Vienna will become to the art-loving tourist one of the 
most important places in Europe, outside of Italy. 

A^ov. 22nd. — Visited the collection of coins and antiquities. 
This is a large and valuable collection of curiosities, consisting 
of ancient bronzes, cut stones, Greek and Etruscan vases of great 
beauty, often of great value, many of them presents to the 
emperors of Austria, by potentates, as bridal or coronation gifts, 
others purchased or obtained by conquests. The collec- 
tion of coins contain 40,000 pieces, gold, silver, copper, bronze, 
etc. The collection of Chinese and Japanese vases fills a large 
hall ; many of these are of great size and beauty ; many of 
these too, are bridal or coronation presents. 

Noi\ 26th. — Visited the votive church, a beautiful 
Renaissance structure, built as a votive offering for the escape 
of the Emperor Joseph, in 1883, who was fired at by a 
blundering Bohemian who, of course, missed his mark. Had it 
been an American backwoodsman this church would not have 
been built. Of course, it was well enough that the assasin 
failed, as assasination is perhaps never justifiable, but had he 
succeeded in his intent, the world would have lost nothing, nor 
would Austria, most probably, have gained anything, as these 
royal families swarm in multitudinous troops, are as prolific as 
rabbits, and as numerous, and have ever ready a more hungry 
aspirant who is willing to take the chances of being shot for 
the fatness connected with the royal robe. The church with 
its beautiful proportions, stained memorial windows and lofty, 
lace-like spires, is an ornament to the city. But we must be- 
lieve that courtiers and priests liad much more interest in its 
erection than heaven or the masses of the Austrian people had, 
as it is difficult to believe the Author of the universe takes any 
especial delight or interest in the well-being of the Austrian 



VIENNA. 77 

royal family, or that the i)L-ople are tenderly attached to a line 
of rulers that have reduced the nation from one of the first 
powers of Europe to one of almost no importance. 

Nov. 2'jtJi. — Visited Count Czernen's palace and pic- 
ture gallery containing a large number of paintings by the old 
masters, mosdy of small size, but many of them art gems, 
more beautiful than almost anything in the great Belvidere or 
Academy of Art picture galleries. Among the most beautiful 
we may mention, Christ on the Cross, by Murillo; Storm at Sea, 
by Ruysdale ; Portraits, by Van Dyck; Bagpipe, by Tenniers ; 
Players, by Doce ; Portraits, by Heist ; Landscape, by Claude 
Lorraine ; Cattle, by Potter ; Doge "of Venice, by Titian ; Return 
from the Chase, by Wouverman ; Portrait of Philip of Spain, by 
Valesquez. How bright and new many of these old paintings 
appear, many of them are on wood, some on zinc, others on 
canvass, many of them three and four hundred years old, with 
their colors as fresh as though painted but last year. How 
strange this is ! Are these beautiful productions immortal ? If 
not, when will they fade ? 

Nov. joth. — .Visited the Augustine Kirche, an imposing 
Gothic structure, commenced in 1330, consequently between 
five and six hundred years old. How many human hopes and 
fears has it witnessed ! How many rulers have come and 
gone, and what changes in the manners, customs and condi- 
tions of mankind have taken place since first its foundations 
were laid. But with all its memories, that which gave it 
especial interest to us, and in the presence of which we almost 
forgot to notice its lofty dome supported by double rows of 
immense marble columns, eighty feet in height, or its s})lendid 
altars, was the monumental tomb of the Archduchess Maria 
Christiana, the lovely daughter of the mighty Maria Theresa, 
Empress of Austria, by Canova. This lovely daughter of the 
most mighty empress in Europe honored her high-born posi- 



75 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

tion, her sex and human nature in not forgetting that she had 
a common humanity with the humble poor, and of her abun- 
dance gave liberally to sweet charity, clothing the naked, feed- 
ing the hungry, and administering to the lowly, sick and help- 
less, so much so that her death was a personal and present loss 
to the poor and needy. This the sculptor has beautifully im- 
mortalized in this work. The monument of white Carrara 
marble is in front of an opening in the church wall, most likely 
the entrance into a small side chapel, representing a vault. 
This is reached by six or eight marble steps, some twenty feet 
in length. At one side of the vault lies a great marble lion 
slumberingly guarding, with half-closed eyes, the holy place from 
vulgar tread. Leaning, half sleeping, on the lion as if to guard 
the place against even the approach or gaze of spirits that 
prowl in darkness, is a most lovely angel wrapped in devotional 
sorrow. On the opposite side is a group of six or eight pil- 
grims of the poor, approaching with the little all they had to 
offer, garlands of sweet-scented flowers as immortelles to her 
memory. I could but believe these simple but appropriate 
offerings of the humble poor, whose misfortunes she had 
labored to alleviate, were more grateful to her sweet spirit than 
crowns of gold. Above the tomb is an angel flying to heaven 
with her imaged soul. The entire production is beautifully 
significant, impressive beyond description. I could have shed 
a tear to her sweet memory. Were all high-born men and 
women so thoughtful of those less fortunate, the world, 
methinks, would be a very Eden, where human sighs and tears 
would ne'er be shed as witnesses of man's inhumanity to his 
fellow-man. I breathed a prayer with full faith that her gentle 
spirit may rest as serenely beautiful as the sweet-imaged angel 
that guards her tomb. Our deeds live after us, and deeds of 
love and charity will oudive monuments of marble and of 
brass, are indeed like a river flowing on, ever widening. 



VIENNA. 79 

deepening, on and on forever. The choir sang, and the deep- 
toned organ, played by master hands, filled the vast church 
with sweetest melody, echoing back from aisle and nave and 
lofty, vaulted roof the music of the spheres. I thought that it 
was mellowed with a chant from the spirit of this sepulchre, 
which, perhaps, for the moment basking upon the borders of 
Paradise, had, with a bevy of angels, lingered there to join in 
the sweet requiem. 

The everlasting hills with earth and the heavens may pass 
away, but lave and charity, upon which is builded the eternal 
throne of God, shall last on and on, growing brighter and 
brighter, to and throughout the eternal day. 

In another part of the church is a vault or room, a side-chap- 
el with a tomb and altar. Upon the altar burned a wax-can- 
dle. It is closed by a lattice gate through which is seen the 
costly marble monument of Leopold IL, who died in 1792. 
His statue in white marble, full-size and clothed in mailed 
armor, reposes on the tomb. Several other royal and distin- 
guished persons are buried here, among them Dr. Von Gunter, 
physician to Maria Theresa. In the Loretto Chapel are the 
hearts of the imperial family in urns. This I like not. Had 
their bodies been burned and their ashes preserved in these 
urns, it would have been in better taste. Who cares for their 
worthless hearts, most of which never felt a noble or generous 
emotion during all their beating, and now when dried or fallen 
to dust are of no more importance than a hand or foot ? And 
then I could but think it were a pity to separate these pride- 
inflated hearts of kings from their worthless bodies, which even 
the royal purple and diadem had failed to make better or less 
corruptible than those they despised. 

"Thy scales, mortality, are jubt, 
To all who pass away ; 
Weighed in thy ballance royal dust 
Is vile as common clay." 



So SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The beautiful stained windows of this church are several 
hundred years old, the chair stalls of oak, richly carved, are of 
the fifteenth century. Beneath the church are catacombs con- 
taining the bones, skulls and dust of priests, monks and other 

holy men, but 

Time has dealt witii tliese holy men, 

As with less pious clay ; 
They lived and ate and drank, and then 

Like sinners passed away. 

But the time approaches when we must bid adieu to beauti- 
ful Vienna with its miles of palatial marble rows of houses. 
No, they are not of marble, not even of stone, but solid brick 
structures, covered with plaster, but so beautifully and uniform- 
ily done, that the cheat is only detected by its very perfection. 
As art is more perfect than nature, often, here, as in a painted 
beauty, exciting suspicion by the absence of defects, which 
nature in the very wantonness of her resources despises to 
conceal, and if nature is creative, art is ever more so, as here, 
as in many other instances, unsightly crude matter is by the 
plastic touch of art transformed into images of beauty. With a 
passing sigh of regret that our stay in this beautiful city is not 
longer, we leave for the romantic, historic city of the Doges, 
where we may hope, at least, to have better weather. It is 
cold here, the ground hard frozen, and the public squares and 
fields covered with snow, which is kept swept up and hauled 
away from the streets. 

THE SEMMERING PASS. 

Dec. 1st. — Left Vienna at 6 a. m. for Venice. On leaving 
Vienna the morning was clear, bright and cold, with a slight 
snow covering the ground. Our route was over a wild moun- 
tainous country, the Semmering Pass. The ever deepening 
snow gave the pass a wilder and more weird appearance. I 
think I never saw a more beautiful d.iy. Snow, deep snow, 
covered the vales and hill sides, while the neighboring moun- 



VIENNA. 8 1 

tains, rising 5,000 and 6,000 feet above the sea, wild 
and rugged, stood in white mantles on either side in truly 
Alpine grandeur. The road was built at great expense, and 
is a grand triumph of engineering skill over the seeming im- 
possiblities which nature had here, as if in very wantonness, 
interposed. Winding now around some projecting mountain 
point, now plunging through the very heart of another that 
stood in stubborn grandeur refusing to be otherwise overcome, 
now spanning with a structure so frail as to yawn destruction 
some frightful chasm, whose dismal depths the fitful wintry san 
reached not. Now as if tired of pursuing one course it would 
turn back, when creeping along under the overhanging heights 
of the opposite side of the ravine as if hunting a point of 
escape, then running back nearly parallel to the point just 
passed over, all the time, however, climbing higher and higher 
until the summit is reached, where, passing over the watershed 
we find ourselves descending the slopes of the Adriatic. The 
gathering shades of night hide from view the distant landscape, 
and give increased force to the cold which had been tempered 
by the rays of a cloudless sun. The road is long and tiresome, 
the tedious journey scarcely relieved by the beauties of the 
dimly-lighted hills and valleys as seen by the shadowy light of 
the full-orbed moon, aided by the clear, blue, serene Italian 
sky, in which every twinkling star glitters as the diamond 
settings of the Order of the Golden Fleece. On our line of 
travel, over these mountains, numerous ruined casdes, the 
strongholds of robber-knights of the middle ages, hung like so 
many eagle nests on the brow of inaccessible mountain heights. 
These once strongholds of mailed knights, having outlived the 
age and customs that originated them, have like many other 
things one meets with in this country, fallen into decay, while 
chieftain and cohorts have alike been forgotten in the onward 
march of ages. The narrow valleys in the mountain, even 



82 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

where almost closed in by precipitous hills, are thickly inhabit- 
ed, and the hill sides, when not too precipitous, are cultivated 
even to their rocky summits. 

How hardly must toiling man wring from reluctant nature a 
scanty subsistence. Descending into the plain as we near the 
city, the road, by a long line of trestle-work and bridges, passes 
over the salt lagoons outlying the city, and runs,' apparently, 
far out into the sea. Indeed, by the uncertain light of the 
moon, a watery waste stretches around us as though we were 
in the middle of the Adriatic. We arrived finally at the depot. 

VENICE. 

The City of Gondolas, Queen of the Adriatic, and formerly 
the home of the Doges, wonderful city, whose history is tran- 
scendently glorious or dark, gloomy or perfidious. The once 
proud mistress of the sea, in whose ample lap was poured the 
riches of sacked cities and plundered provinces, and whose 
coffers were filled to repletion with tribute money paid by a 
hundred cities for protection by, or mercy from, her formidable 
fleets that, issuing from her ports, swept the Mediterranean 
coast with fire and sword. Her great artery is the Grand 
Canal which passes like a river or arm of the sea quite through 
the midst of the city. On arriving at the depot we found 
gondolas awaiting the train, just as carriages do at other cities. 
Taking one of them as our carriage, we were conducted 
through the entire length of the Grand Canal to the Hotel Luna, 
situated at its mouth, ever and anon on our passage the gon- 
dola would make a cut off through some by canal just as would 
a carriage across a vacant square in a city. We flew along 
this highway undisturbed by the rolling of wheels, with the 
moon at its full, lighting up the often dark, half-decayed 
})alaces that, rising from the water's edge, line the banks of 
this canal on either side. These marble palaces, shrouded in 



VENICE. 83 

departed glory, stand as the ghosts of other days, mute but 
impressive witnesses, testifying, by their presence and condi- 
tion alike to what Venice has been and now is. The night 
winds in their passage through these silent halls gave forth a 
requiem wail, eloquent in its funeral dirge over fallen greatness. 

The salt lagoons upon the mud islands of which Venice is 
built, are protected on the land side, by an extensive system of 
piling, from mixture with the fresh water of the river, which 
also serve to prevent the mud, brought down by the river, 
gradually filling up this part of the canal, as it would otherwise 
do. By this extensive system of piling and embankments, the 
city is protected from the dangerous proximity of paludal 
swamps, and the filling up of the canals, which here are the 
streets. On the seaside the, city had to be protected by an 
immense stone wall built out into the sea. The former, or 
land side, re( paired 400 years to build, and cost 2,000,000 
francs. And when it is stated that this was but a small part 
of the expense required to render these mud islands sufficiently 
stable to support the immense structures placed upon them, 
some idea may be- obtained of the enormous amount of time 
and money expended in building this city. Indeed to get a 
stable place upon which to build cost more than the building 
of a city in other places. 

The city thus protected is rendered quite healthy by the 
tide which rises and falls two feet every twelve hours, this, in 
running in and out, forms as many rivers as there are canals, 
carrying out the foul and replacing it with fresh sea water 
every twelve hour. 

These mud islands, 114 in number, lie in the shallow 
Adriatic, some three miles from the mainland, so that it is 
literally a city rising out of the sea, with 150 canals crossed by 
numerous bridges. These canals constitute the streets and 
connect every part of the city. Most of the houses, like those 



84 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL, 

on the Grand Canal, rise directly from the water, with their 
doors or piazzas opening out upon the canal, which often 
affords the inhabitants their only communication with other 
parts of the city, their gondolas waiting for them at the door 
as would a carriage in other cities. There are no horses or 
mules in Venice, consequently no wagons or carriages. The 
only horses in the city are the four bronze ones on St. Mark's. 

The population of the city, which in the days of its glory 
was 250,000, is now mot more than half this number, and 
most of these are paupers. 

But with all this decay in population and wealth, through 
dechne of trade and commercial importance, with silent work- 
shops and the ghosts of other days standing in vacant palaces, 
decaying houses, deserted wharves, like shrouded skeletons 
over and around her, like some mighty oak that has witnessed 
not only the decay of the forest, but its own, Venice stands 
proudly, majestically great, even in her ruins. Navies may go 
down at sea, ships rot at the wharves, and her marble palaces 
crumble to dust, but the glory of her works and deeds can 
never fade, while the impress given by her art-loving citizens 
to the Renaissance of art will live forever. 

The former aristocratic quarters of the city were along the 
Grand Canal, both sides of which are lined by marble palaces. 
These were the residences of Doges, merchant princes, wealthy 
senators and State officials, and even now, with their beautiful 
columns, piazzas, carvings, statuary and frescoes, present a 
fairy appearance and evidence of taste and oppulence only to 
be met with in Venice. 

To one acquainted with her history (and who is not?) it is not 
unexpected to find in the earlier forms of her sculpture and 
architecture a large mixture of the Orient, nor is he unprepared 
to find in her art forms, a lingering Byzantine influence, long 
after it had been replaced by the classical in other parts of 



VENICE. 



85 



Italy, as Byzantium was itself a part of Venice, Constantinople 
having been conquered by the Venetians in 1204 under the 
Doge, Henrico Dondola. Therefore in cultivating and fostering 
Byzantine art, they felt that they were but cultivating their 
own. To all this was added the spoils of a hundred sacked 
eastern cities, while her commerce constantly added to her 
overfilled stores, and her navy that rode triumphant on the 
Mediterranean, while especially directed against the Moslem 
power, was ever ready to despoil a Christian church. 

A knowledge of this history prepares us to account for the 
unusual amount of exotic works found here, and for the 
oriental cast of these. From their aggressive and irresistible 
expeditions, her fleets returned loaded with the spoils of Con- 
stantinople, including the doors and other costly spoils of the 
Christian church of St. Sophia. During these wars or plunder- 
ing expeditions — for these Venetians were often but litde better 
than freebooters — extending over centuries, they took and 
sacked most of the important Greek cities and added to their 
stores their invaluable works of art, until the . city was filled 
with imported Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns, marble and 
bronze statuary, freizes and stuccoes from the Greek and 
Saracene churches, temples and mosques, until we find here in 
her palaces, churches, museums, many of the most beautiful 
productions of the eastern cities, with a constant recurrence, 
in her native productions, mosaics and paintings, to the Greek 
or Byzantine style. Indeed most of their earlier works called 
native, as the Mosaics of St. Mark's, are native only in that 
they were done in Venice by Greek artists living here or im- 
ported for this purpose, conditions leadily produced by the 
stimulus of high wages for works of art, which the great wealth 
brought by her conquests and commerce enabled Venice and 
Venetians to pay for such works. 

Here on the Grand Canal is the palace in which Byron lived 



86 bOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

while m Venice, and where he wrote his beautiful and im- 
mortal poem, Childe Harold — many passages of which are the 
finest in the Enghsh or any other language — and will be read 
when the marble palace in which they were written shall have 
crumbled to dust. Here, also, plunged in the excesses of 
Venetian society, he unfortunately wrote another work which 
no beauty of thought or expression can redeem, his Don Juan. 
The palace is a beautiful, fairy-like structure which, with its 
associations, doubtless gave inspiration to the poet's muse. 
Here also stands the palace of Desdemona, and close by that 
of Sbylock, associated with the genms of the Bord of Avon. 
One can see and feel in passing here, the truthfulness of 
Shakespear's Merchant of Venice. The realities of this wonder- 
ful production meet us at every winding of the canal — stand 
out as ghostly images of the past from tesselated palaces — and 
yet, Shakespear was never here, which fact of itself increases 
our wonder and admiration for the godlike genius of the poet, 
who lived in all places, for all times. Other men, though great, 
belong to a place and an age, but he is of the world, and all 
subsequent time is his. 

There is a fault observable in the architecture of Venice, a 
mixture of styles, a profusion, on overloading, not the fault of 
her architects, but the result of the superabundance of mate- 
rials at their disposal, and which they were required to use- 
work in. And as this material, the spoils of conquest or plunder, 
was taken from churches, temples and public buildings of differ- 
ent designs and orders, it was often incongruous, and some- 
times oddly placed together. We shall see this notably the 
case in St. Mark's, in tne construction of which they used 
material from Jerusalem, Greek temples and Christian 
churches, as the doors and other spoils from St. Sophia at 
Constantinople. All these came alike to these Christian free- 
booters. At most it was only robbing St. Peter and Pau 



VENICE. 87 

and other saints and apostles, to pay or enrich St. Mark, who, 
as the patron saint of Venice, was in especial favor with these 
devout people, who supposed his influence over the affairs of 
this world to be sufficient to protect their city and give to 
their armies and navies power to continue the spoils, and so 
long as this was done, they cared but litde about his influence 
elsewhere. 

But with all her acquirements and attainments in architec- 
ture, sculpture, etc., and rich as Venice is in these, it is to her 
great painters that modern Venice points with most pride, and 
whose immortal works most interest the present age. These 
great painters, stimulated, created, not less by the spirit of the 
age, than by the art associations of the city, carved for Venice, 
a higher, brighter niche in the roll of fame, and one more 
enduring than even her naval victories. These beautiful pro- 
ductions of their pencils, found here in the greatest profusion in 
the churches, palaces and picture galleries, as wefl as in 
every picture gallery in Europe, wifl outlast the spoils of war 
or the Doges' palace — will indeed delight and instruct mankind 
when these shall have failed. 

There are, in the history of man, intellectual waves, move- 
ments or cycles, not less surely felt and known, though in their 
laws eluding our most searching inquiry, than those of the 
physical world. These manifest themselves now in great, 
prolonged and widely-extended religious revivals or excite- 
ments, in which, for the time being, it would seem' that whole 
communities or peoples, moved by some g-reat moral impulse, 
perhaps the near approach of the millenium, had mounted a 
higher plain of religious thought and acdon. During this 
movement, great pulpit orators preach with incalculable force 
and effect, while those less gifted, preach with a power and 
influence beyond the most gifted in other times. Again this 
movement shows itself in a seemingly quite opposite direction, 



88 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

in which, without any accord, or indeed uninfluenced by each 
other, many nations are engaged in internicene or foreign 
wars, in which fire and the sword seem to be the sport of 
nations, in which, an Alexander, Caesar, Cambyses, Ghenghis 
Khan or Napoleon threaten, the conquest of the world, planning 
and fighting great battles that are the wonder of all succeeding 
ages, AvhiJe their lieutenants perform greater military exploits 
than could the greatest general in other times. Now this 
movement manifests itself in a searching inquiry into physical 
phenomena, resulting in the cotemporary discoveries or in- 
vention, perhaps in remote and disconnected countries, of great 
and lasting importance. The telescope is discovered ; the laws 
of gravity governing the world announced; the thunderbolt is 
caught and examined ; the slumbering Titan existing in steam 
is discovered, startled from his slumbers, and set to work, the 
printing press invented, a passing sunbeam halted and made 
to paint an image, photograph the passing shadow, and all 
this with such startling suddenness that we are often, at a loss 
to determine the real author. Indeed the discoverer or inven- 
tor is not the man,* but the age. Now the movement finds 
expression" in the production of great orators, poets, sculptors, 
painters and architects, not singly or confined to any one peo- 
ple, but often in great numbers and in many nations, produc- 
ing styles and works of beauty, that impress all future genera- 
tions. These facts, while patent to all men as results, in the 
causes producing or influencing them are known to none, are 
possibly supersensual and in the absence of known causes are 
termed, " the genms or spirit of the age," zeitgheist. This 
zeitgheist or spirit of the age, running in a particular direc- 
tion, produces in remote communities results of the greatest 
importance and works of the highest excellence, this spirit 
impressing the age so forcibly, that even men of moderate 
ability, in some of their best moods, or when least themselves 



VENICE. 89 

and most under the influence of this spirit of the age, have 
produced works of the highest excellence, works surpassing in 
motive or beauty of execution those of the greatest masters of 
another age. 

This was never more strikingly or lastingly shown than in the 
fine-arts movement of the 15th, i6th and early part of the 
17th centuries. And this too, in despite of the absence of all 
the conditions admitted to be most favorable to the production 
of great works of art, freedom of thought and action, and the 
protection by the state of life and property. Indeed not only 
in the absence of these conditions, but in the actual presence 
of their contraries, with soul and body enslaved, and life and 
property jeopardized daily. 

This spirit of the age, the spirit of painting, extended at this 
time over most of Europe, producing in Spain, Velasquez and 
Murillo, in Germany, Durer and Holbein, in England, Hogarth 
and Reynolds, in Holland and Belgium, among others. Van 
Dyck, Van Eyck, Rembrandt and Rubens, and in Italy, begin- 
ning, or receiving its impulse, with Cimabue and Giotto, cul- 
minated in Michael Angelo, Leonardi de Vinci and Raphael. 
This tidal wave of art, or Zeitgeist, having produced not one, 
but an army, of the greatest painters, and a multitude of the 
finest paintings the world ever has, or ever will, produce, cul- 
minated in the three last named, and having run its cycle, rap- 
idly passed away, possibly never to return, leaving these im- 
mortal productions, the wonder and admiration of all future 
ages. As is well known, it was in Italy this Zeitgeist embrac- 
ed the widest area, manifested the greatest force, and attained 
its highest excellence. And it was precisely here where the 
conditions were least favorable. And least of all, present with 
two of these, Michael Angelo and Raphael, who attained the 
highest excellence, as these two were but little better than the 
slaves of the most despotic of powers, Leo X., working often by 



90 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

actual dictation, and at all times amidst and mider conditions 
admitted to be the least favorable to artistic eminence. It 
will then be seen that it was the age that produced these 
great works. 

In all this, Venice contributed a part worthy of her glory in 
arms. Of these great paintings, stamped with the genius of the 
age, her churches, halls and art galleries contain enough to 
enrich the picture galleries of many cities. 

We will notice in particular only a few of these great mas- 
ters belonging to Venice, and only mention some of their 
greatest works found here, as these last will constantly recur 
in other cities. Titian, 1477-1576, was the greatest of the 
Venetian school ; excelling perhaps all others in the richness 
of his colors and life-hkeness of his flesh tints, and the beauty 
of his portraits. Some of his numerous paintings are found in 
every picture gallery in Europe, and here in Venice are in every 
church, hall and gallery and museum. His master-production, 
" The Ascension," painted on wood, is truly a great work, 
and in some points places Titian the equal of Raphael. "The 
Entombment," his last picture, painted in the ninety-ninth year 
of his age, is also a great work. Both of these are in the 
Accademia delle Belle Arti. Tintoretto, one of Titians pupils, 
whose richness of invention and perfection in coloring places 
him in the first rank of Venetian, if not indeed of Italian, 
painters, has numerous paintings here. The Doges' Palace 
has its walls covered with his paintings and frescoes. His 
" Paradise " covers one end of the great hall, is the largest oil 
painting in the world, and while possessing much excellence, 
is more remarkable for its size and the great muldtude of fig- 
ures it contains, than for its excellence of execution, and yet 
many of the figures are very fine. His "Miracle of St. Mark 
Saving a Slave From the Hands of the Heathens," a great 
work, is in the Academy. Palma Vecchio is remarkable for his 



VENICE. 91 

portraits of Venetian beauties. Paul Veronese painted here, 
where many of his best pieces are found in the Academy. 

The place of most interest in Venice, and in some respects, 
one of the most remarkable in Europe, is SL M'ark''s, the 
piazza of which, with the church, affords a study not less instruc- 
tive than interesting. The piazza is an oblong square, 540 
feet long by 250 feet wide, and is paved with dark grey free- 
stone and white Istria marble, and has on three sides marble 
colonnades which form an unbroken arcade of 128 arches. The 
other side is bounded by St. Mark's church. These structures 
represent half a thousand years of Venetian architecture, illus- 
trating her life-history, St. Mark's church constituting the 
illuminated pages. 

We cannot describe this church — (who could ?) and shall only 
attempt to give some of its distinctive peculiarities, whereby 
it may be seen that it is really indescribable, also a vague idea 
given of its general appearance and importance in the history 
of this city. This strange, unique structure, while of no par- 
ticular style, blends within itself, with more or less harmonious 
beauty, the wondrous excellence of the old Greek, or classical, 
the new or Byzantine and Saracenic, Syriac and Hindo styles. 
Its history runs back into the night of the dark ages to a time 
when the affrighted inhabitants of the adjacent hills and plains 
had secured a sure footing upon these mud islands to which 
they had fled in very terror to escape the irresistible and mer- 
ciless slaughtering horde of Goths and Vandals who pressed 
down in countless numbers from the forests of the unknown 
North to complete the destruction of the Roman Empire. In 
the darkness and terror of that long night, when the intellec- 
tual light of the world, Rome, had been extinguished by the 
barbarian hordes led by Atilla, the Hun, and Allaric, the Goth, 
these peoples of Northern Italy, unable to protect themselves, 
sought and obtained kindly protection from the sea, and here, 



92 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

in 550, erected a chapel on the site where St. Mark's now 
stands. In the beginning of the ninth century, when Venice 
had become a strong city, whose navies were strong enough to 
ravage the Mediterranean coast, one of those miracles occurred 
not uncommon in those times when monkish legends or dreams 
of saints were proofs as strong as holy writ — the finding of the 
body of Saint Mark, the Apostle — of course, miracuously pre- 
served for 800 years, and miraculously discovered, and 
therefore miraculously here in Venice, where it was conveyed 
from Egypt and supplanted the tutelar saint Theodore. The 
body was brought with great pomp, no one doubting its 
genuineness, and received and deposited with much ecclesias- 
tical ceremony on this spot. Then, as a suitable mousoleum 
for a corpse of so much dignity as that of an apostle, the pious 
cut-throat Doge began, and his pious successors completed in 
977, St. Mark's church, which, however, in despite the Saint's 
guardian care, took fire and burned down soon after its com- 
pletion. Not in the least discouraged by this neglect, indiffer- 
ence or want of power on the part of their patron saint, the 
saintly Doge Pietro commenced to rebuild it on a grander 
scale than before, thinking perhaps the apostle had let the 
other burn down because not suiting his aesthetic tastes. This 
task the very pious Dodge undertook out of his private fortune, 
a fortune acquired by the very laudable and Christian means 
of plundering Greek temples, Moslem mosques and Christian 
churches. 

For the erection of St. Mark's, the most distinguished archi- 
tects were summoned to Venice, and under their guidance the 
pious work continued with the spoils of sacked cities, until after 
the lapse of one hundred years in 107 1 A. D. it was completed 
under the pious Doge Dominico, so that as it now stands it is 
upwards of 800 years old. The bones of the saint — perhaps 
in fact those of a thief or crocodile from the catacombs of 



VENICE. 93 

Egypt have thus had a long and royal rest. The great time 
in building the church, with the wealth of material at their dis- 
posal, brought from plundered oriental temple, churches and 
mosques, with their different styles of architecture, necessitated 
an admixture of different styles in the building. The ground 
plan is Byzantine Christian, being that of a Greek cross, in 
which the transept or cross-bar is in the middle of the shaft, 
giving four bars of nearly equal length. The top of the church 
is strikingly Saracenic, so much so, with its five Moslem domes, 
that we are convinced at first sight that it is a mosque. This 
with its ground-plan and roof constitutes a structure that 
might be called Byzantine and' Arabic, or Turko-Christian. 
Some of the other parts are Gothic and Lombardine, all these 
being not the work of one or any particular plan or style, but 
an ingenious adaptation of the architect to work in the often- 
beautiful but discordant material stolen from the cities of 
Greece and Asia Minor, including some beautiful marble 
columns said to be from Solomon's Temple, together with 
some highly-ornamented columns from the ruined capital 
of the splendor-loving Queen of Sheba. Who doubts that 
these beautiful columns were miraculously preserved to 
ornament this Christian temple, that stands as a trumpet- 
tongued witness to tell of the stormy times when the taking 
of helpless cities, with the rape and murder of the in- 
habitants, was a sport in which good Christians had a right to 
engage. And then who had a better right to the fatness of the 
land than the patron saint of the city, the Apostle Mark ? 
What if he had preached a gospel of virtue and mercy ! times 
had changed, and with them also customs and morals. 

But the work of these pious Doges stands here none the less 
picturesque, grand, beautiful, from the fact that it was only 
their leisure hours that were given to this pious task, their official 
hours having been devoted to the not-less-pleasing task of di- 



94 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

reeling the application of thumb-screws, the wheel and the 
rack, and other like modes of torture, to wring from their hapless 
victims the confession of crimes of which they were often quite 
ignorant. But if the bones of these pious Doges, like those of 
other saints, repose in consecrated ground, those of their vic- 
tims rest not less quietly amidst the mud and slime of dark 
lagoons or deep sea. 

The exterior front of the church is ornamented with won- 
drously-executed portraits of apostles and saints in mosaics on 
a bright gold ground, with a representation in mosaic of the 
embarkment of the body of St. Mark, at Alexandria, Egypt, 
and the landing of the body at Venice. Over the principal 
entrance is the Judgment of Solomon. Surrounding the body 
of St. Mark are a number of Doges, patriarchs, city magnates 
and others, all in mosaics. Upon the gallery in front of the 
great central window are the four bronze horses which all true 
Venetians look upon with reverence and awe. They are said 
to have at one time adorned Nero's triumphal arch at Rome. 
Taken from there to Constantinople, when this city was taken 
and sacked by the crusaders they were brought to Venice. 
When Napoleon I. took Venice, he sent these horses to Paris. 
After his fall they were returned to Venice. 

The upper arches are filled with mosaics. The Descent from 
the Cross, The Resurrection, The Ascension. All these figures 
are of life size and well executed in bright mosaics on a gold 
ground. These, like all the older mosaics in this church, some 
of which date back to the tenth century, are of Byzantine style, 
a stiff, conventional manner of the figures and dress. All the 
Christs, Madonnas and Apostles, and many of the Saints, have 
a golden halo surrounding the head. Hundreds of figures of 
life size appear on the vast arch of the roof covering every 
square foot of its area. These figures, in despite their stiff, 
motionless appearance, are really beautiful, while the colors of 



VENICE, 



95 



many of them,' though nearly a thousand years old, are as 
bright and, as seen from the vast distance to the dome, as 
handsome as if done in oil. There are 40,000 square feet of 
mosaics in this church. The wagon roof and great dome are 
covered with mosaics. The whole history of creation, Noah's 
flood, the known and many unknown incidents in the life of 
Christ and the Apostles are given in these mosaics, while the 
figures of more saints than were ever known to heaven crowd 
the roof and extend into the curious recesses and niches of the 
walls. 

The different times of doing these mosaics can be easily read 
in their gradual change from the stiff, motionless Byzantine 
style into the more natural, active, life-like, easy style with the 
flowing dresses of the classical or Renaissance. 

Three great metal doors open from the piazza into the 
church. One of these elaborately-wrought doors, with Greek 
inscriptions upon it, was plundered from the Christian church, 
St. Sophia, at Constantinople, and placed here by these Chris- 
tian marauders as a suitable offering to the Apostle St. Mark 
and appropriate decoration for his mausoleum. There are at 
the entrance of the church eight marble columns of beautiful 
Greek workmanship, four on either side, brought also from 
Constantinople, and back of the high altar there are four spiral 
columns of translucent alabaster of great beauty and of Greek 
finish, said to be from Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem, but 
their Greek workmanship prove them of a later origin and 
from a diflerent place. The Altar of the Madonna with a very 
fine Greek painting of the Virgin, was taken from a Christian 
church in Constantinople and brought here in 1204 A. D. 
This picture is held in very great esteem, as indeed it should 
be ; St. Luke himself being the painter ? Well who knows but 
that this apostle might have employed his leisure time in paint- 
ing portraits. History is silent upon this subject, so much so 



96 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL, 

tliat it cannot be disproved from history. In the Iridon 
Chapel lie the relics of Saint Iride, brought from Chios in A. D. 
1 1 24. The mosaics of this chapel celebrate her life and vir- 
tues. They are of the fourteenth century. 

The vast amount of mosaics, marble statuary, beautiful 
Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns in this church is truly 
amazing. Had it been intended, as perhaps it was, as a de- 
pository for all the art treasures plundered from Eastern cities, 
for hundreds of years, it could hardly have been richer ; a very 
store-house of the spoils of war. All ages, all nations, visited 
by their conquering fleets, all religions and all styles are repre- 
sented by their spoils in this church, thus constituting it a 
library in which is contained, more or less complete, the history 
of the irresistible prowess of Venice in the days of her glory. 
And while these spoils, in their source, and the uses to which 
they were placed, are not always such as we can justify, yet 
much must be assigned to the time ; and these Venetians, in 
robbing other Christian churches to ornament that of their 
tutelary saint, only did as they would have been done by, 
under like circumstances. Would that Venice was alone in 
thus plundering her fellow Christians. 

The Bell Tower, which, according to the custom of the age, 
was built apart from the church, is an immense square pyramid, 
300 feet high. It was commenced in the tenth, and com- 
pleted in the latter part of the twelfth century. In company 
with some St. Louis friends I ascended to its summit, from 
which we had a panoramic view of the entire city. The as- 
cent is not by steps but by an incHned plane running around 
on the inside of the Tower, making, we thought, the ascent 
much easier than by steps. The Clock Tower, built in 121 9, 
contains a clock of scarcely less mechanical interest than that 
of Strasburg. The dial plate, next the piazza, shows the 
signs of the zodiac, with the moon's phases. In the second 



VENICE. 97 

Story sits a Madonna between two gilded door, the doors 
opening every hour for the egress and ingress of three sacred 
kings, who are preceded by an angel. All the figures rever- 
ently greet the Virgin. On the top are two giant Moors in 
bronze, who strike the hours upon a great bell. 

The Doge's Palace forms one side of St. Mark Piazza, 
which here runs down to the wharf. This Palace, history in- 
forms us, was first built in 820. Like St. Mark's church, it 
was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt in 1430. Its beautiful works 
of art suffered greatly by the vandalism of the French during 
their occupancy of Venice, but it is still rich in many of the 
finer paintings of the world. The painting and frescoes of 
Titian, Paul Veronese and Tintaretto, ornament its halls. A 
volume would be required to describe its architecture, statues, 
statuetts, frescoes and paintings. The grand hall of the four 
doors was the room in which foreign embassadors, ministers 
and envoys were received, and was gorgeously decorated with 
frescoes and paintings with a high throne for the ruling Doge. 
This throne on state occasions was covered with cloth of gold, 
and nothing was left undone that might assist to impress em- 
bassadors and others with the glory and majesty and might 
and dominion of Venice. From the room of the inquisitors, 
a secret power in masks, to whom mercy was unknown, a 
dark, narrow passage leads to the Bridge of Sighs. The 
opening to this stairway, entering the hall, was concealed in 
the wall, and when they closed behind the hapless victim 
hope was left behind. Through this passage and over this 
bridge, many an innocent victim of envy, malice or jealousy 
passed to the dark, dismal dungeon, deep below. We traversed 
this passage, and crossmg the bridge, which, with a high arch, 
spans one of the numerous canals, reached on the opposite 
side of the canal the Doges' palace, the entrance to the 
dungeon, and, lighted by a torch in the hand of the guide. 



98 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

explored its dismal depths. Thanks to the times and circum- 
stances, with different feelings from the many who had goii e 
here at the mandate of the masked inquisitors, and yet not 
without a shudder as we groped our way along the dark, nar- 
row, mouldy way, to chambers in which confinement was 
worse than death. 

The very stones seemed to give out sighs and groans as we 
descended quite to the water's edge, or even below that in the 
adjacent canals, where dark, dismal, damp cells, without a ra}/ 
of light, with a stone bed, had received their unfortunate 
victims. Horror of horrors. To be immured here, without a 
hope of ever again seeing those they loved, were aUvingdeath. 
Welcome the axe of the executioner that released the hopeless 
victim from the horror of living. i\nd then here lay the axe 
and the block, with and upon which their necks were severed, 
while the stain of the stream of human blood was still, or 
seemed to be, upon the rock channel along which it had run to 
the canal. A boat awaited, at dead of night, to conduct the 
headless body, and severed head, to be dropped in the deep 
sea. When once seized and dragged from home, no mother, 
wife, sister, friend, ever again saw these State victims while 
living or when dead. Well, here all is silent now. Informers, 
inquisitors and their victims have passed away. And is this 
the end of man? Shall these groans and tears of the innocent 
bear no fruit? and these bloody crimes go unwhipped of 
vengeance? Well it may be so. I could but hope not. On 
the opposite side of the piazza is the king's palace, with a front 
much like that of the Doges' palace. A long row of marble 
columns support the faclde. Above this a row of lighter Cor- 
inthian columns support the roof. The palace is still the sum- 
mer residence of the king of Italy, when he visits Venice. It 
is much as king Humbert's father. Victor Emanuel left it when 
last here, with his bed-room and bed just as he left them. 



FLORENCE. 



99 



The palace contains a great number of rooms, fm-nished in 

princely style, costly furniture, mirrors, inlaid tables with sofas 

and chairs. We were shown through the entire palace, which 

though not as fine as many we have seen, it being only an 

occasional residence of royalty, is certainly rather extravagantly 

furnished for the small amount of use it is to any one. But 

then like old Caspar's notions of the battle of Blenheim, 

Such things you know must be 
In every land of royally. 

But we must bid farewell to this once-beautiful and art- 
loving city of the lagoons, with her history the brighest and 
darkest of any of the cities of the middle ages. 

Dec. loth. — Left Venice at i p. m. and arrived at Florence 
at 8 p. M. and put up at the very comfortable Hotel Chapman, 
No. 24 Via Pandolfini, kept by an American lady. 

FLORENCE. 
This is the art city of the world, and though Venice is a 
great store-house of art, much of it is exotic, plundered from 
other cities, while here in Florence it is the work of her native 
artists. Here is the cradle and nursery of the Renaissance, the 
birthplace of the modern Italian language, literature and art. 
Here lived and labored those remarkable men who have 
instructed and delighted the world. Here was the home of 
Dante, whose Comedia Divina has been translated into all the 
languages of modern Europe, and so intimately blended with 
our religious thought and literature, that it would be difficult 
to separate it from them without a revolution in religious 
thought. Here was the home of Galileo, also of Michael 
Angelo, Leonard! and Raphael, all of whom studied and 
worked at the same time in Florence. The long line of the 
Medici, a semi-royal family, by the encouragement they gave tt) 
men of genius, and as patrons of letters, did much to consti- 



lOO SOUVKNIRS OF TRAVKL. 

tute, and continue for ages, Florence the focus of intellectual 
activity. Indeed, so great has been her production of genius, 
that the whole city is moulded by, and on, their art creations. 
So much so is this the case, that not a street, not a public 
square, but is adorned with their works, while every church is an 
art gallery. These churches contain of themselves so many 
works of great merit as to make Florence one of the most 
important art cities of Europe, even were her great picture gal- 
leries, the Uffizi and the Pitti, with their priceless treasures, 
not here. 

The city has a medii^val appearance, with her narrow, 
crooked streets, lined on either- side by walls of houses indicat- 
ing the necessity that existed in the times of its erection for 
crowding the population into as small a compass as possible, 
that they might be within the walls, which the turbulent, lawless 
times it has witnessed, when might made right and no law or 
obligation was binding, except that of force, made fortress 
walls a necessity to- the existence of all these Italian cities. 
Many of these houses are the former residences of men of let- 
ters, and some of them date back to the 12th and 14th centu- 
ries, having braved the storms of half a thousand years, during 
which time Europe has passed from the darkness of the feudal 
age to the intellectual light of the 19th century, in the 
development of which the inhabitants of this city have contrib- 
uted more than those of any other. Perhaps the most potent 
of the agents through which they effected this, was the Platonic 
Academy, whose members, by diHgently hunting up and trans- 
lating the lost knowledge of the ancients, through which means 
the artless forms of art then in existence were replaced by the 
classical, created a new era, known as die revival of learning, 
the Renaissance. In their efforts in this, the members of the 
Platonic Academy labored with all the Zealand self-devotion of 
religious enthusiasts, while tlie strong native intellect of this 



KLORl'.NCE. . lOl 

people was stimulated by the example and encouraged by the 
means placed at their disposal through the labors of this acade- 
my, and the munificence of the Medici ?>oo\\ constituted Florence 
the literary center of Italy. I'heir artistic taste was alike 
stimulated by the genius of Cimabue and Giotto, whose 
departure from the stiff conventionalism of the Byzantine style 
continued ever greater, until it culminated in the classic and 
the productions of the greatest of painters Leonardi, Michael 
Angelo and Raphael, whose immortal works are found in all 
the galleries of Europe, and as things of beauty will constitute 
the gems of these through coming ages. 

The city lies on both sides the Arno, a small stream, except 
when swollen by rains or melted snows from the adjacent 
Appenines. To prevent disaster, formerly frequent, from these 
causes, the river is enclosed on both sides by strong stone 
walls, some twenty feet in height. It is crossed by five stone 
bridges, the oldest of which dates back to the 13th century. 
The high stone walls which protected the city during the dark 
and middle ages, were strengthened by gates, batdements and 
towers by Michael Angelo, who, as engineer, defended the city 
for eleven months against the overwhelming armies of Charles 
v., of Spain and Germany. Famine, however, accomplished 
what all the force of Spain and Germany could not, and the 
city was finally compelled to capitulate for want of food. 
The greater part of these walls has been removed. How- 
ever the line on the west side and extending north and south 
from the Roman gate, still exists in a good state of preserva- 
tion, giving the town from this side much the same appearance 
it had 400 years ago, that of a walled city. The Porta Rom- 
ano, erected in 1320, still stands in a good state of preserva- 
tion, and gives a good idea of the strength and durability of 
the gates of an ancient walled city, where the lives and property 
of the inhabitants depended upon the strength of the gates and 



102 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

walls enclosing the city, not less than the skill and valor of 
those defending them. 

The point to which the stranger most naturally hrst directs 
his attention, is the Piazza della Signoria, with its adjoining 
Palazzo Vecchio and Loggia del T.onzi,not more an account of 
their appearance than their memories, as here was enacted 
much of the history of Florence, being to this city, what the 
Forum was to Rome for six hundred years, the assembly place 
of the people, where was determined the life and foitune of 
individuals, as well as the affau-s of state. The Piazza is a 
small, open space, only containing a few aci'es, walled in by 
high houses, and in approaching it from any direction we 
emerge from narrow alleys, called here via or straddi (streets), 
which again are so entirely closed on either side by a contin- 
uous line of high walls, houses, as to render it impossible to 
see any other part ot the city than the immediate part we are 
in, which fact of itself gives this bright, open Piazza additional 
charm. And this is greatly enhanced by the many works of 
art here met with. Some of these are silent witnesses of many 
a dark and bloody deed, whose spectres throw their shadows 
across the past history of this Piazza. 

The Palazzo Vecchio, which bounds this square on one side, 
was the residence of the Signoria or ruling power of the 
city, the residence and battle tower of Cosimo I. and subse- 
quent rulers of the great, wise and magnanimous, or dark, 
bloody, cruel, despotic Medici, who, like the Doges of Venice, 
are associated with perhaps most that is grand, great, glori- 
ous, and also with much that is to be deplored, in the history of 
Florence. This castle was built by Arnalfo del Cambio, in 
A. D. 1298. In front of the castle is the beautiful, large foun- 
tain, with Neptune and Tritons, or sea-horses, beautifully 
executed. It occupies the spot where stood the stake at which 
was burned Savonnarola and two Dominican monks in the 
T5th century. 



FLORENCE. IO3 

Savonnaroica, a Dominican priest, was one of those rarely- 
gifted religious enthusiasts whose governing convictions are 
often mistaken by others, and sometimes by themselves as in- 
spirations from heaven, and who, dominated and acting by these, 
honestly believing they are acting under the immediate com- 
mands of a higher power, may do great good or harm. Some- 
times when this conviction dominating the individual, favcjr- 
ably impresses their cotemporaries, he becomes the founder of a 
religion, as Buddha, Moses and Mahomet. In other instances, 
new interpretations are given to old religions, which continue 
with more or less influence during their cycle, instance Luther, 
Calvin, Wesley and others. 

This great man, dominated by the belief in his direct com- 
munications with heaven, aided by an intellect that was almost 
superhuman and an eloquence convincingly overwhelming, was 
long the Umpire of Florence, influencing its counsels and dic- 
tating or giving its laws, and controlling public opinion by 
declaring in his sermons against the extravagance and wicked- 
ness of his age, making his pulpit the rostrum from which were 
denounced the sins, both actual and imaginary, of this city of 
Florence. And as this wickedness was supposed to be in 
some especial manner connected with the rulers and wealthy 
classes, he very naturally became the idol of the masses. 
Most fortunately his earnest fanaticism was mosdy directed 
for good, nor was this at all unlikely in a city where there Was 
so much to be improved. But his unfortunate diabolical 
taking-off doubdess only came in time to prevent his fanati- 
cism taking practical movement in lines that would forever 
have destroyed his good name. For instance, his sermons 
had more than once darkly pointed towards the destruction of 
works of art as idols, and such was his influence at this time, 
that his instruction to the populace might have made a bon- 
fire of all or many of those great paintings at Florence that 



I04 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

now delight the world and make much of the glory of 
Florence. Indeed so near was he upon this, that it is believed 
that some of those paintings possessed by his more devout 
friends were actually destroyed, Savonnarola setting the 
example. This constituted one of the charges brought against 
him by his enemies. It stands, at first sight, in rebuttal to this 
accusation that his own monastery, San Marco, was the nur- 
sery of these fine arts, and his dearest brother monks among 
the most gifted painters of his time. But it is quite possible 
that to a mind constituted and dominated by religious convic- 
tions, this very circumstance might have determined him to 
destroy all such idols as called off the mind from monastic 
devotion. Or while he may have determined upon this, it 
may be that in very love for his truly much-loved and loving 
brothers he deferred the fatal decree. To one believing as I 
do, in the earnestness of his convictions that he was acting 
under the direct guidance of heaven nothing is more probable 
than that he may have had some of these works destroyed, or 
than that he may have seriously contemplated declaring an 
iconoclastic war against all these works of art, as idolatrous 
and therefore to be destroyed. 

Had Savonnarola confined his diatribes to the rulers and 
wealthy citizens, all might have gone well with him, but un- 
fortunately for his continued success and influence, his pure 
and fearless soul revolted against the vices of the cloister and 
clergy whose pollutions rose rank against heaven, and therefore 
these too fell under his terrible denunciations. At first, most 
naturally, these denunciations met with the warm support of the 
populace, to whom the sins of these orders were not more 
known than hated. But Savonnarola learned, when too late, 
what many others have learned before and since, that the mul- 
titude are fickle, often turning against their greatest benefactors, 
while the orders he attacked were organized bodies acting in 



FLORENCE. 



^05 



concert for a common support. These, by intrigue with the 
masses, through the infinite and potent means they possessed, 
with the aid of the Pope who was most naturally with them in 
suppressing any popular feeling against the religious orders, 
were not slow to undermine and destroy this great enemy, 
And this the more easily as they had the rulers and wealthy 
classes with them, and then their success was the more certam, 
as in all intrigue and dissimulation they had the field to them- 
selves, as the pure and lofty soul of the seer, guided, as he 
verily believed, by divine direction and protected l)y the God 
whom he worshipped, could no more have made use of these 
means than it could have soiled itself with the pollutions he 
denounced. Had he boldly attacked the sins he denounced, 
as sins of the Church, rather than sins of the orders, he might 
have succeeded in the great work left for the more sagacious, 
though not more earnest or fearless, German reformer, but 
failing in this he fell between the upper and the nether mill- 
stone. And he who, when the city of Florence was at the 
mercy of a conquering Gallic army, whose legions occupied 
the city, with every vestige of liberty and autonomy stamped 
out, and the city in immediate danger of universal rapine and 
pillage, stood in the presence of the Emperor Francis I. to 
plead for the city, and by eloquently imploring him to treat 
them with mercy and leave the city, accompanying his prayer 
with fearful threatenings of divine vengeance, which he really 
believed and convinced the Emperor were at his bidding, suc- 
ceeded in so far frightening this despotic conqueror that he 
withdrew his armies and retired from Florence leaving the peo- 
ple in full possession of their liberty and fortunes, was now in 
the power of those to whom mercy was a stranger. 

While legends and myths give accounts of miraculous inter- 
position producing like effects — works of the Church or 
oracles — this, in fact, is the only instance in the world's history 



Io6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of such a work having been accomplished by the unaided 
efforts or spiritual influence of an obscure priest or seer. 

And now that the conqueror was conquered, and had fled 
when no man was pursuing, the city was most naturally in a 
state of anarchy. Savonnarola, by the wisdom of his councils, 
again saved it and restored law and order. But his enemies 
slept not. Their existence, or what to them amounted to the 
same thing, the corrupt means of existence, depended upon 
the destruction of this fearless champion of reform, who, now 
that the city was again free, hurled his anathemas against the 
corruptions of the times. But his days were numbered. 

And he, the prophet-priest, who had dared to wake 
The slumbei-ing venom of the cloister snake, 

was seized at midnight and dragged from his cloister, St. 
Marco, and from the midst of his brothers, many of whom 
would gladly have died for him, and some of them with tears 
begged the authorities that they might in mercy have the privi- 
lege of suffering in his stead. But in vain. Savonnarola was 
thrown into prison, where, with two of his fellow-m.onks, he 
was subjected to the most frightful tortures, was stretched upon 
the rack, broken upon the wheel, and when almost dead, with 
his two companions was dragged from prison and burned at 
the stake in this open square. The gloomy walls that surround 
this square were lighted up by the pale and sickly glare of these 
faggot fires, behind whose ghastly wreaths of smoke we may 
well believe the angels hid their faces and wept, while the night 
was rendered more hideous by the shouts of the insane muld- 
tude, who rejoiced in a deed the very fiends might well abhor 
to claim as their own. 

Thus ended Florence's great priest and seer. In all its 
human aspects how wonderfully his closing scene reminds us 
of that of his Divine Master. Exchange the stake for the cross, 
the Florentines for the Jews, and the Piazza for Calvary, and 



FLORENCE. I07 

all of these are mere accidents, and the similitude is wonder- 
ful — both alike innocent of the crimes of which they were ac- 
cused, both alike had committed the acts for which they 
actually suffered, attempting to reform the abuses of their age 
and exalt and reform man and the Church, by making them 
more pure, more spiritual. 

THE PALAZZO PITTL 

This splendid, or rather massive, palace stands on an eminence 
on the left bank of the Arno which divides Florence, a city of 
160,000 inhabitants, into two unequal parts. It is connected 
with the Ufhza on the opposite side of the Arno by a covered 
passway which spans the river and is five or six hundred yards 
in length, this being the distance between these two picture 
galleries. The palace was built in 1440 by Luca Pitti, a 
gentleman of great wealth and rival of the Medici. His inten- 
tion was to build the most imposing structure ever erected by 
a private individual. In as far as size is concerned he scarcely 
failed, but otherwise it certainly is neither fine nor imposing. 
The eye is unrelieved by columns, porticoes or ornamentation, 
a vast pile of stone, undressed except at their joints, utterly 
void of architectural beauty. It was long the residence of the 
reigning governors, and even now is the residence of the king 
of Italy when in summer he visits Florence. The upper floors 
contain the world-renowned Pitti Picture Gallery, which was 
formerly the property of Cardinal Leopold and Carlo de 
Medici and the Grand Duke Ferdinand 11. In the Pitti 
Gallery there are 560 paintings, many of them art gems and 
some of them the finest paintings in the world. 

It is impossible to spend even an hour here without feeling 
an elevation of soul, as we are here brought in communion 
with the impressive gifts of genius, the cunning touch of whose 
pencils have brought us in direct relation with much that is 
divine in the human, the unseen, the ideal, that here is more 
real than things that are tangible. 



Io8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The best works of the Florentine period are a Madonna by 
Fillippo Lippi, The Adoration of the Magi by Gherlandago, A 
Pieta by Perugino, The Resurrection, an Annunciation, St. 
Mark, and a Pieta by FraBartolommeo, The Disputa, a Holy 
Family, and a Madonna by Andrea del Sarto. 

On entering the Saloon of the Iliad, so named, as are the 
other saloons, from the frescoes on the ceilings, to the right 
of the entrance is a most beautiful portrait of a lady, formerly 
attributed to Raphael, and which would do this, the greatest of 
painters, no discredit. xA.n Assumption, a grand painting by 
A. del Sarto. Mary and John adoring the Child by Perugino. 
The Nuptials of St. Catherine, by the almost-divine FraBar- 
tolommeo. This is the greatest of this master's productions, 
and in many points equal to a Raphael. Cardinal Ippolito de 
Medici, the warrior-saint in Hungarian costume, painted in 
1532 after his return from the campaign against the Turks, by 
Titian. The Concert, an almost unequaled painting in which 
a handsome young monk has struck a cord on a musical in- 
strument, a piano, with another monk and a handsome young 
knight standing by listening. The painting is most expressive. 
Action and motion are visible as the musical note thrills the 
three. Nothing could be more perfect or expressive. A very gem, 
by Giorgione! 

Saloon of Saturn — Cleopatra with the asp on her breast, by 
Guido Reni. Vision of Ezekiel with God, the Father, enthroned 
upon the beasts of the Apocalypse, by Raphael, much admired, 
but I do not like it. The idea attempted is unreal, unnatural, 
unbelievable, monstrous, even if Raphael did paint it. Leo X 
and the Cardinals de Medici and de Rassi, by Raphael. A 
Madonna, by Del Sarto. Angelo Doni, by Raphael. Rembrandt, 
a portrait by himself. Portrait of Madelino Strozze Duni, by 
Raphael. Descent from the Cross, by A. del Sarto. Holy 
Family, by Murillo. Had this, the greatest of Spanish painters, 



FLORENCE. IO9 

never produced anything better, he would scarcely have been 
remembered. The picture is certainly commonplace. Know 
no other reason for its preservation here than that it is aMurillo. 
Christ at Emmaus, by Palma Vecchio. Adam, by Diirer, the 
great German artist, said to be a good work. Don't like it. 
La Belle Tiziano, a beautiful woman, by Titian. This is a 
perfect picture of female beauty, natural, real, earnest, with 
only enough of the divine to give it enchantment, while the 
earthly, or real, clothes it with all the loveliness of a surpassingly 
beautiful woman. 

Saloon of Jupiter — Ceiling frescoes by Catoni. Madonna del 
Grande Duca, by Raphael. This beautiful picture is so named 
because long owned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, with 
whose family it was an object of worship, their prayers being 
addressed to it, and no wonder, as it represents at least the 
most easily worshipped object of earth, an ideally lovely wo- 
man, while the beautiful Child Jesus is full of action and life. 
Had Raphael never painted any other, this picture alone would 
have placed him as the greatest of artists. Philip of Spain, by 
the preceptor of Murillo, and next to his pupil, Spain's greatest 
painter, Velasquez. 

Saloon of Ulysses — Madonna and Saints, by A. del Sarto. In 
one of the side rooms are many excellent paintings and other 
art productions, among them a statue of Napoleon L, by 
Canova, two tables of oriental alabaster, and another of 
malachite, costly drinking cups of mediaeval time, a round 
table of modern mosaics valued at $ 1 50,000. Another valuable 
gem is a life-size statue of Venus, by Canova. If this is not 
one of the most perfect, life-like statues of Venus ever produced, 
I fail to see it. This exquisitely beautiful statue is further 
beautified by the modestly disposed drapery which hangs in 
natural folds half revealing the beautifully rounded contour of 
her limbs. Returning to the room of Saturn, there is an En- 



no SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

tombment, by Perugino, a grand work. Pope Julius, by 
Raphael, a grand portrait in which the noble, austere, selt- 
reliant physiognomy of this great man and Pope inspires us 
with awe. From such a physiognomy everything may be 
hoped for or feared. 

Saloon of Jupiter — Battle Scene, by Salvator Rosa, a grand 
painting. Annunciation, by Del Sarto. 

Saloon of Mars — Ceiling by Pietro da Cartona. Holy Family, 
by Raphael. Portrait of the immortal anatomist, Andreas Ves- 
alius, by Titian. Madonna della Sedia, by Raphael. Perhaps no 
work of art, not even excepting his Cistine Madonna at Dresden, 
is better known or more admired than this, grand, beautiful, 
lovely almost beyond conception. The Madonna is seated 
in an arm-chair with the child in her arms, and the child John 
standing by them. It is said that more than fifty engravers 
have engraved it, while copies and photographs innumerable 
have transmitted its reflex throughout the world. No money 
could purchase it, as no art could reproduce it. 

ACADEMIA DE BELLE ART. 

This valuable collection presents the finest historical collec- 
tion for the student in Italy. The characteristic features of 
the Byzantine-Umbrian styles are beautifully shown here, be- 
ginning with Cimabue of the thirteenth century, and father of 
the Florentine School, which during his lifetime rose to the 
first school of Tuscany. This gifted artist seems to have been 
the first to depart from the Greco-Christian, known as the 
Byzantine, style. The departure from this stiff, conventional,, 
unreal and lifeless style, however important, is not great. We 
have in all his paintings the same gold background, the same 
halo, or glory, the same coppery tints, with the elongated, nun- 
like faces and stiff, motionless, motiveless attitude, with the 
ever-recurring stiff folds of the drapery, in which there is ever 
the same straight plaits which characterizes the Byzantine- 



FLORENCE. Ill 

Christian, or sacred, style, which, endorsed by the Church, be- 
came stereotyped as the model from which no painter, how- 
ever gifted, dared depart. But all this, while present in the 
works of this great master, is ever less and less so, until from 
an evident impossibility of motion the figures become ever 
more intent to action, while with the more naturalness of the 
drapery, movement becomes so manifest that we are not sur- 
prised when in the further development of this departure the 
figures start into active motion, as they do in the school of 
Cimabue's great pupil Giotto. This departure, made by the 
master, continued in the school of Giotto until the Byzantine 
style was lost in the natural, the classic, bursting into the glo- 
rious triumphs of the Renaissance. 

Giotto, like many of the great painters of this age, was also 
a great sculptor and architect. His skill in these is immor- 
tali:^ed in the Campinile of the Cathedral. The numerous 
great halls of tnis building are filled with fine paintings of the 
old masters, principally pre-Renaissance, and which we have 
not time to even mention. On the ground floor is the won- 
derful master work in stone of Michael Angelo, his great 
colossal statue of David. No work ever brought more imme- 
diate reputation or glory to its author. No work ever better de- 
served to do so. It has been called a miracle work, and 
surely is as near so as any other work of modern chisel. Among 
marvelous creations it is only equaled by Raphael's Cistine 
Madonna at Dresden. 

But while this great work of Raphael awes, entrances, thrills 
us, by its divinity, bringing us in to the presence of the half un- 
veiled glories of heaven, Michael Angelo's David subdues, 
awes us by, its almost miraculous humanity, or life-likeness. 
With all we had heard and read of this marvelous production 
of Michael Angelo, we felt in its presence as did the Queen of 
Sheba in the Court of Solomon, that " the half had never been 



112 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

told." The look and attitude of Judea's champion become^ 
the godlike youth ; composed, quiet, firm and noble, he stands 
in the immediate presence of Goliah, as if carefully weighing 
the might of his giant opponent, with his sling thrown over his 
left shoulder, the end grasped firmly in his left hand, which is 
lifted near the shoulder, while his right hand hangs by his side, 
carefully concealing, but firmly grasping a stone, which is to 
be hurled at the next moment with deadly effect against the 
mighty champion of Israel's foes. And while this, only a stone 
image, is all we have here, as we gaze upon it, so life-like is 
it, so quick with motion, and so big with meaning, that we 
quite readily see the two embattled armies resting on either 
side of their champions, awaiting with breathless eagerness 
the combat, and with feelings of emotion we almost ask our- 
selves, " Why is not the death-bearing pebble thrown ?" We 
close our eyes ; it is thrown and the mighty giant lies, gasping 
in death before us. The earth trembles at his gaspings. 

CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION. 

This now time-worn and faded church was built in 1239, 
by the order of the Servi, or servants of the Virgin. The 
Atrium faces the piazza and contains seven arches, resting on 
slender Corinthian columns. The central arch was decorated 
with a fresco by Antonio de San Gallo, in 15 13, representing 
Faith. Hope and Charity. This fresco, which so greatly 
charmed Michael Angelo, although greatly injured by expos- 
ure in an open fagade for near 400 years, is still quite distinctly 
seen, revealing through the mist of ages, the genius of the 
youthful painter. The decorations within the Church are by 
the master artist Andrea Del Sarto and his pupils. The frescoes 
representing the life and miracles of San Phillippi Benezzi are 
now preserved under glass. This saint was a Florentine 
physician who left the cure of the body for the cure of 
souls, joined the order of the Servi and was beatified by Pope 
LeoX. 



FLORENCE. II3 

There are many other beautiful frescoes and paintmgs m 
this old church, which is indeed a very picture gallery. A 
Last Supper, by Del Sarto, and the Madonna Del Sacco, have 
been much admired. In the Madonna Del Sacco, the Holy 
Family are on their way to Egypt, and during the flight have 
stopped to rest. Mary, with the Infant in her arms, is seated, 
while Joseph has laid down the sack containing their wardrobe 
and is seated upon it. All this is pleasingly and beautifully 
rendered, and we find ourselves returning to this fresco to 
study it deeper. A pleasing anecdote is related of this fresco, 
which contains many female portraits of rare beauty. Many 
long years after the death of Del Sarto, and when it was sup- 
posed all who knew him and his were dead, it was being copied 
by a painter, when a decrepit old woman whom almost no one 
knew, passed by him on her way to mass, stopped, looked at 
the fresco, at the copy, then told the artist that a given beauti- 
ful young female figure was a portrait, was her portrait, that 
she was the widow, the once beautiful young wife of A. Del 
Sarto, the immortal artist, whose beautiful productions in this 
church and also in the picture gallery of Italy constitute some 
of the finest gems of art. His beautiful Madonna the Del Sacco 
was pronounced unequaled in grace and color. 

CONVENT OF SAN MARCO. 

This venerable structure was first built and occupied by 
monks, called Silvestrini, in 1299. In 1400, when the city 
was stricken by the plague, these monks, by the relaxation of 
their dicipline, fell into disfavor, and the monastery was given 
to the Dominicans. This order and their monastery are im- 
mortalized here, ist. By the wonderfully-gifted, earnest, 
eloquent, fervent, pious, enthusiastic, inspired, fanatical 
Dominican friar, priest and martyr, Savonnarola, who entered 
this monastery in 1482. 2nd. This venerable pile is hallowed 
by its connection with the two immortal Dominican monks 



114 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

and painters who long occupied cells here, Fra iVngelica and 
Fra Bartolommeo. 

In the cloisters here are fine frescoes by Fra Giovanni, 
AngeHco da Fiesole. Christ on the cross, with St. Domnico 
near by. Over the door, under the portico, St. Peter, with his 
finger on his mouth, indicative of the silence of the order. 
Over the door of the refectory, a Pieta. Over another en- 
trance, Christ as a pilgrim, welcomed by two Dominican 
monks, beautiful, expressive, lovely. In the chapel house, 
Christ crucified between two thieves, with a number of saints 
standing near, all by Fra Angelica. Upper floor, where are 
the deserted cells of the Dominican monks, are numerous 
frescoes and paintings by Fra Angelica and Fra Bartolommeo. 
A bronze bust of Savonnarola. The last cell on the left pos- 
sesses a peculiar interest as being the one occupied by the 
prophet-priest, Savonnarola. Cell No. 13 is sanctified by his 
portrait, by Fra Bartolommeo, and his crucifix, plain and sim- 
ple as the soul of its former possessor, also his autographs and 
a painting representing his diabolical taking off. Another cell 
is that of St. Antonio, Bishop of Florence, who also was one 
of the order. The library, the first public fibrary in Italy, 
contains many illuminated books of the loth, nth and 12th 
centuries. Many of these are so beautifully executed with the 
pen, as to appear printed ; all on parchment. Another cell, 
that of Cosimo, when visiting the monastery, is ornamented 
with frescoes by Fra Angelica, among these, the adoration of 
the Magi, a beautiful painting; also his portrait and other 
mementoes of this greatest of the Medici. A long line of cells, 
the former homes of pious monks line, either side of the pas- 
sage, each wath the little window opening out on the open 
space. And this as if furnishing too much light and air, and 
consequently pleasure or comfort, though not more than fifteen 
inches square and closed with a v/ooden shutter, has in the 



FLORENCE. 1 1 5 

middle of the shutter still another, not more than eight inches 
square. Over the head of each bed is a small fresco, a cruci- 
fixion, 'a Madonna, or some saint, done by their pious, divinely- 
gifted, sweet-natured brother, Fr^ Angelica. That these small 
cells, the life-long homes of these simple-minded, pious monks 
were doubly endeared to them by these lovely little frescoes 
and paintings, is most certain. They are lovely yet and even 
to a passing stranger, mementoes of love and devotion. And 
strange to say, time with its effacing finger for more than 400 
years, has . scarcely dimmed their luster. Many of these 
frescoes and paintings here by Fra Bartolommeo and Fra 
Angelica possess a charm, not only for their incomparable 
perfection and beauty, but in their freshness, , pointing to 
departed genius, which, though absent, can never die. The 
skillful hands and loving hearts that conceived and wrought 
them have for near half a thousand years lost their cunning 
and warm emotion, yet these immortal embodiments of their 
spirits live on and on, speaking trumpet-tongued from the 
long, dimly-remembered past, and children's children, shall 
long yet visit them as holy shrines. But not only have these 
loving brothers, Savonnarola, Fra Bartolommeo and Fra 
Angelica, with their pious, devoted companions and brothers, 
gone, all gone, but the very order itself has perished — been sup- 
pressed, and 

The cells are all silent, deserted, alone, 
The monks have departed, the painters are gone, 
Thrice-sacred San Marco, though all lonely now, 
Cicero was not more eloquent than thou. 
SAN CROCE. 

This immense structure in the Lombardo-Gothic style, built 
in the thirteenth' century, is one of the most interesting churches 
in Florence. In front is an open piazza, in the middle of 
which is a colossal statue of Florence's greatest poet, Dante. 
The interior nave and aisles are 489 feet in length and 65 feet 



Il6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

to the flat ceiling, which is supported by fourteen massive 
columns. Interior, tomb of Michael Angelo, whose dust reposes 
here. Monument to Dante, who died in exile at Ravena. Statue 
of x\lferi. The marble pulpit, highly decorated with silver and 
precious stones, is said to be the finest in Italy. Five reliefs, 
representing the Franciscan order, the Stigmata. The death of 
Saint Francis. Statuettes of Faith, Hope and Charity, Fortitude 
and Justice. Many beautiful frescoes and paintings by the old 
masters make this old church quite a picture gallery. 

Dec. 14th.- — The afternoon being clear and the weather mild 
as early autumn, we drove to the surpassingly lovely suburbs 
of Florence, over grounds that have been rendered historical 
by the battles of a thousand years, and classical by the writers 
of almost every age and country, and rendered ever dear to 
lovers of art, science and letters, by being the homes of great 
men, among them Galileo. Passing out over the Arno over a 
solid stone bridge that had witnessed the march of mailed 
knights as they passed over it on their way to retake the Holy 
Sepulchre, we issued from the city through the Porta Romana, 
which had withstood the fierce assaults of Gaul and Spaniard, 
when, turning to the right, we drove along the old stone wall of 
the same period, ascending the hill to the Bellosguardo, from 
which point we had a fine view of the city: From here we 
continued our drive through a highly-picturesque country to an 
old monastery upon a lofty eminence, some three miles from 
the city. This old cloister resembles an old ruined fortress of 
Antediluvian times. It was built in 1366, and though it has 
battled long and well against storm and time, like the order it 
represents, it is falling to decay, and after having witnessed the 
long struggle man has made for his intellectual and religious 
freedom, without, I fear, having greatly contributed to either, 
has melted away before the noonday splendor of the nineteenth 
century. We were kindly received by one of the few remain- 



FLORENCE. 1 1 7 

ing monks now here, who looked as though he might have 
assisted at its foundation, and who kindly showed us over the 
old church, the open court surrounded by long lines of vacant, 
mouldy cells, where through centuries many generations of 
these monks have lived in these close, dark, solitary cells, 
thinking to secure heaven by making earth a hell. The chapel 
has a beautiful marble pavement and side stalls, or pews, of 
beautifully-carved hard wood. A good painting, Death of 
Saint Bruno, hung over the altar; other paintings and frescoes, 
old and faded, ornamented the walls. We descended from the 
chapel to the crypt by old worn stone steps, where are monu- 
ments of priests, many of them four and five hundred years 
old. The stained windows are by Giovanni. 

THE UFFIZI. 

Dec. 1 6th. — 'Visited the Ufifizi Picture Gallery, one of the 
most valuable collections of art in Europe. Arabesque por- 
traits of kings, emperors and distinguished persons adorn the 
arched ceiUng over the stairway. Elntering the long corridor 
we find the wall covered with wood, metal and canvas paint- 
ings by the old masters. These paintings, though not without 
great merit ill many instances, are principally valuable as illus- 
trating the gradual, slow, but constantly progressive change 
fi"om the old, or Byzantine, to the new or classical style of 
painting. The oldest of these paintings, a Madonna and 
Child, is by Rico in 1050, and of course Byzantine in style. 
It possesses much interest in being one of the oldest paintings 
extant. It antedates oil painting, is in distemper, that is, size 
is used instead of oil, and yet, though upwards of 800 years 
old, retains its colors well, so much so that it gives strong sus- 
picion of having been retouched, if so, this is not stated in the 
catalogue as is generally don«. We are thus left to infer that 
the colors are those of the artist. It is on wood, to which 
fact, perhaps, it owes its preservation. I am not aware of any 



Il8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

painting so old as this on canvas, indeed, nearly all of the 
very old paintings are on wood or metal or fresco, the latter 
term apj^lied to those paintings in which the colors are laid on 
the still moist plaster of walls or ceilings. The next two are 
by Cimabue and give us the first departure from the old style 
which, continued by his great pupil and his school, developed 
the Renaissance style. This entire revolution is fully given in 
these paintings in this hall, and is the result of the labors of 
Giotto and his school. Another important historical fact 
given here, and which serves to increase our admiration for 
the wonderful genius of the immortal Giotto, is that many of his 
ideal conceptions of figures have constituted the models which all 
subsequent painters have adopted. Forinstance, his "Head of 
Christ" is retained as the model, only given with an increase 
of beauty and dignity by Leonardo de Vinci in his Last Sup- 
per, and the St. John of Criotto has an effeminate appearance 
which has been retained by all subsequent painters to the pres- 
ent day. 

A point then here given, and a most important historical 
fact, but little known, is that the portraits of Christ and Saint 
John are the inve7itio?is of this great master of the thirteenth 
century, and were entirely unknown to any previous painter, 
both are entirely ideal, and the creations of Giotto, and if 
more like those they represent than like Moses or Mahomet, 
it is entirely an accident. They certainly differ greatly from all 
those given from times nearer Christ, as seen in all the Byzan- 
tine Greco-religious or Church style of all the older mosaics 
and frescos. And the same, only to a less extent, may be 
said of his Madonnas. 

Entering the first room, we meet with many paintings of 
superior excellence to those met with in the long corridor first 
entered. We shall, however, only stop to notice one of these, 
and this not more on account of its superior excellence than 



FLORENCE. 



119 



from the fact that it introduces us to a great artist and the 
most distinctly Florentine of the time, Fra Giovanni, called 
and known in the art world as Fra Angelica, from the beauty 
of his angels. Having once met with this extraordinary 
painter, we never lose his characteristics, recognizing at a 
glance a painting by this master by the distinctive beauty of 
his angels, (and almost all his paintings have angels, if not, all 
have angelic faces) never so successfully imitated as to deceive 
us into attributing it to Fra Angelico. I do not now recall but 
two other painters in which the individual style is so clearly 
marked as to enable one, not a connoisseur, to immediately 
determine the author, Rembrandt and Raphael. Perhaps 
Murillo might with less certainty be added to this list. This 
painting was done in 1433, for the Guild of Florentine Mer- 
chants. It is in three pieces. On the center tablet is a 
Madonna and Child, life-size, while around them are a multi- 
of angels of ideal beauty, playing on different musical instru- 
ments. St. John the Baptist, St. Mark and Peter are on the 
side pieces or doors. In the shading the colors are so softly 
blended as to give an indescribable harmonious beauty to the 
figures and to transfer them from the plane of mortals. In what 
colors did Fra Angelica dip his pencil? From where did he 
borrow these tints ? Surely not from earth ! 

Another large and carefully-finished picture, representing the 
Virgin and St. Anne with the Child and St. John, with other 
figures, is by Fra Bartolommeo, a brother Franciscan monk of 
San Marco. The interest of this historical collection is very 
great as showing the advance and attainments of the art. 
Oil has here, and now taken the place of distemper^ while per- 
spective, which great masters had been for 200 years laboring 
to discover, is now a well-known science. The improved 
knowledge of anatomy had also aided in making these figures 
more natural, while chiara-oscura is now under established rules. 



1 20 . bOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Through this collection in the corridor, and the first room, 
we are brought down to, and introduced to the great masters 
of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in which all the mys- 
teries of the art being fully known, and the classical or Renais- 
sance style being fully established, the greatest men known to 
the art are working on those immortal works that adorn every 
picture gallery in Europe. But it is in Italy, and more espec- 
ially here in Florence, the nursery of art, that the halls are 
filled with their most choice works. We now enter the room 
known as the Tribune, where we meet with a collection of 
these works together with the best gems of ancient sculpture, 
nowhere else met with to the same extent and beauty. We 
will first notice the statuary, as this first attracts our attention 
on entering the room. First, and occupying the center of the 
room, is the world-renowned marble statue, the Venus de 
Medici. This beautiful production of the Greek chisel is 
thought by many good judges to be the best marble statue of 
Venus extant. It has only one rival, the Venus de Milo, in 
the Louvre. A comparison between these two wonderful works 
of art is hardly just to either, as they represent quite different 
styles of beautiful women, both perfect in their style, and a 
choice, like that between brunettes and blondes, is a mere 
matter of taste. Both are Greek works possibly by Praxiteles 
or his school. Aside from their wonderful perfection and 
beauty there is, however, a comparison that must be made by 
everyone seeing these statues, and may readily be decided in 
favor of either without any disparagement of the other. The 
Venus de Medici is the statue of a nude female of rather small 
size, rather petite, and gives the ideal perfection of the beauty 
and grace of the human form divine, a surpassingly beautiful 
woman, yet a woman, and as woman, the more beautiful be- 
cause she is nothing else, only woman, with the idea woman 
so perfectly and beautifully given that could we in thought, in- 



FLORENCE. 121 

crease this perfection and beauty to infinity, the idea would 
still remain and be, woman, whereas the Venus de Milo is 
the draped colossal statue of a wondrously-beautiful woman, 
with a something added which unmistakably makes her more 
than a woman, a queen, a goddess, and with all her perfection 
and beauty as a goddess she is placed a little beyond the 
grasp of our knowledge and affections, while we involuntarily 
cling to that which we do know which embraces and fills the mea- 
sure of, our affections the on/y-woma.n, as found in the Venus de 
Medici. We admire the one as a goddess, the other as a 
woman, and as the woman is nearest us, we admire her most. 
Another gem of Greek sculpture, and thought by some to 
be the best that has descended to us from the ancients, is the 
Dancing Faun. Scarcely less admirable is the Knife-grinder, 
a stolid, brutal-looking Scythian, whetting his knife to flay 
Marsyas ; also the Apollino, a youthful Apollo, very fine ! 

PAINTINGS. 

The first of these is the Madonna with the Child and St. 
John standing near by with a small red-crested bird, known as 
the Madonna Del Cardinello, by Raphael. St. John is a fine 
boy with all the beauty of youthful life, richly dressed, is no 
doubt a portrait from some fine-looking, gaily-dressed son of 
an Italian nobleman. A female portrait, by Raphael, also an- 
other female portrait, long attributed to Raphael during his 
Florentine period, is of great beauty, and may well have been 
by Raphael. 

A Venus, by Titian. This has been much admired, and is 
certainly admirable for the perfection of the flesh tints, but 
fails to impress me favorably. I do not like Titian's type of 
females. There is a gorgeousness of beauty, a gushing ap- 
pearance I do not like. All his Venuses in particular are 
wanting in that soft, mild, delicate beauty we might expect to 
meet in the goddess of love. A Madonna with St. John and 



12 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

St. Francis, by A. Del Sarto, a beautiful painting. Adoration of 
the Magi, by Diirer. Holy Family, by Michael Angelo. Pope 
Julius, by Raphael. Holy Family, by Paul Veronese. Adora- 
tion of the Magi, by I.eonardo de Vinci. Madonna and Child, 
with angels, by Botticelli. 

In the Hall of the ancient masters, are fine works by Fra 
Angelica, Lorenze de Credi. Madonna and Child, by Lippi. 
An Annunciation, by Leonardo de Vinci, Holy Family, by Luca 
Signorelli. A Landscape, by Salvator Rosa. Holy Family, by 
Rembrandt. Landscape, by Jacob Van Ruysdale. Venus and 
Adonis, by Rubens. Madonna, by Van Dyck. Entombment, 
by Roger Von der Weyden. 

The cabinet of jems contains many cariosities of much in- 
terest. Among them a vessel of Lapis Lazula with two bas 
reliefs in gold and jasper ground. A vase of jasper with lid 
and the figure of a woman in gold, adorned with diamonds. 

In the room of Venetian painters there are many works by 
their greatest painters. Among them portrait of the Duchess 
and Duke of Urbino, by Titian, one of his best works. Titian's 
Flora, much admired. 

Passing by the multitudes of other fine paintings and curi- 
osities and gems and medals and bronzes of great beauty and 
excellence, we enter the Saloon of Niobe. containing^the group 
of Niobe and her children in the act of being slain by Apollo 
and Diana. This beautiful group of seven sons and seven 
daughters of the demi-goddess queen, who had incurred the 
displeasure of heaven by preferring herself to the goddess 
Latona, are being slain in the presence of their mother who 
endeavors in vain to protect the youngest of her daughters who 
has fled to her for protection. The arrows shot from unseen 
bows by invisible hands from above, flash into view on their 
unerring mission. One by one the terror-stricken children, 
pierced by these arrows, fall in the presence of their agonized 



FLORENCE. 



123 



mother, who, with the lofty grandeur of a queen, is looking up- 
ward towards the source from which they come, with an inde- 
scribable agony that complains not, upbraids not, nor asks for 
mercy. No more expressive group was ever made by human 
hands. It is a poem or myth beautifully told in stone. And 
is that providential destruction of a family, as we see in epi- 
demics, personified. It is one of the finest of the Greek works. 
Most likely belonged to the Temple of Apollo, and is by the 
hand of Phidias or Praxiteles. No other age than that of 
Pericles could have produced it. Let no one visiting Florence 
fail to see and study it. 

THE CATHEDRAL (lTALL\N DUOMO). 

This beautiful building of the mixed Gotho-Italian style was 
commenced in the thirteenth century on a plan by the great 
architect and painter, Giotto, and partly completed in the fif- 
teenth century, some 200 years having been employed in its par- 
tial completion. It is highly ornamented externally by variegated 
marble so artistically arranged as to appear as a vast mosaic. 
It has been built at an incredible cost of time and la,bor, and is 
in fact not yet completed, although the work has been, and is 
now, going on for more than 600 years. A large body of men 
are now employed on the west end, not in repairing, but in 
finishing it according to the original plan, and in correspond- 
ence with the other exterior parts of the building. In conver- 
sation with the superintendent of this work he informed me that 
if nothing happened and the full force of workmen, some twenty 
or thirty, could be kept on the work, he expected to complete 
it in ten years, that is, in 1894. In one-third of the time in 
America we have built a thousand cities, conquered a wilder- 
ness and established a mighty nation of fifty millions of people, 
and since its foundations were laid Europe has passed from the 
gloom and ignorance of the early middle ages to the light and 
civilization produced by 600 years of progress. The vast time 



I 24 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

this work has gone on, ever nearing, but never attaining, com- 
pletion, has given rise in Florence to a most significant proverb, 
that an enterprise, like the Cathedral, will never be completed. 
The Florentines have, however, for excuse, that it is not only 
an immense, but an elaborate structure, that necessarily re- 
quires much tune and labor for its completion. The Cathedral 
is 500 feet long, 140 feet wide and 300 feet to the top of the 
dome, all of which is adorned by elaborate frescoes by Giovanni 
Vasari. And while the interior presents a much less ornate 
appearance than the exterior, there are some frescoes and 
paintings of much merit. Among the paintings is an eques- 
trian likeness of Sir John Hawkswood, of England, a free- 
booter, or soldier, of fortune, who, leaving England at the down- 
fall of his party, wandered over to Italy, where, with his band 
of bold English adventurers, he roved over the land, fighting 
for that party that payed the best. At first he was employed 
against the Florentines, whose experience with his prowess soon 
taught them the value of his services, and with true political 
sagacity they opened negotiations with Sir John which secured 
his services for, instead of against, the city, when he soon, by 
his valor and good fortune, won for the city the greatest bene- 
fits over those for whom he had just been fighting. And Sir 
John, as a tower of strength, continued in good faith with his 
invincible band of adventurers, in the service of Florence until 
his death, which was suitably observed and bemoaned as a 
public calamity, which indeed it was to the Florentines. His 
body was wrapped in cloth and carried in great state to the 
Cathedral and buried with all the religious pomp and ceremony 
becoming a Christian hero, and his portrait placed here as 
might have been that of a saint. Another equestrian pamting 
in the Cathedral is that of a captain, also a freebooter, who 
fought with great valor and success for the Florentmes. Tire 
monument of the architect of the Cathedral, the great painter 



FLORENCE. 



125 



Giotto, is in the church, and near it that of Pierre Farnese, a 
soldier of fortune, who fought for pay on the side of the Floren- 
tines, and who died of the plague in 1363. Other monuments 
are of bishops and distinguished churchmen. Bishops and 
freebooters are alike honored here ; perhaps the latter were 
equally pious, and certainly were much the most useful. The 
richly-stained windows are of the fifteenth century. 

This old Cathedral has witnessed some fearful scenes of 
blood during the stormy times that have swept over and 
through Florence since its first occupancy. In 1747 the two 
Medici were attacked in the Cathedral by armed confederates. 
One of them was slain, and the other, wounded by a priest, fled 
to the sacristy. 

The beautiful variegated marble of the exterior was obtained 
from Siena, Carrara, Prato, Lorenze and other quarries. The 
beauty and grandeur of the structure well fulfill the swelling 
instructions given the architect by the, at that time, wealthy 
and powerful city of Florence, to " build the finest structure 
that human art could conceive or the wealth of the world 
afford," The vanity of such inflated ideas is shown in the fact 
that the wealth and glory of the city faded long ere its com- 
pletion. 

The Campanille, or Bell Tower, stands separated from the 
Cathedral, and is an immense pile some fifty feet square and 
300 feet high, and is ascended by 420 stone steps. It was de- 
signed by the same architect, Giotto, in 1334. It is elaborately 
ornamented with statues and bas reHefs, and is the most beau- 
tiful structure of the kind in the world. We ascended to its 
lofty parapet, from which we had a fine view of Florence and 
its suburbs and adjacent beautiful country extending to points 
bounded only by the horizon. 



126 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

NAPLES. 

Jan. yth. — The city of Naples, situated on the beautiful 
Gulf of Naples, is the largest city in Italy; contains 500,000 
inhabitants. It is in the centre of a highly-volcanic region 
where the uncertain earth trembles with a chronic ague, and 
the beautiful coast is lined with the ruins of ancient palaces, 
villas and temples, whose unsteady foundations, alarmed at 
earthquake shocks, have exchanged places with their roofs, 
while Vesuvius, towering 4,000 feet above the city, yawns de- 
struction on all the cities of the plain, adding to the uncertain 
terrors, or heightening the charm of this strange region, where 
storm-scared and earthquake-riven towns are often two and 
three thousand years old, while adjoining mountains, that look 
as though a part of the everlasting hills, are only two or three 
hundred years old. Here, in this enchanted district, as if in 
very sport, the entire order of things is reversed, cities are 
being built for a thousand years, while mountains are formed 
full-grown, finished and rounded off, in a single day. Monte 
Nuovo, only a short distance from Naples, stood forth, fully 
formed, one morning, where the day before had been a level 
plain. 

Took carriage and drove around the bay to the west of 
Naples through the Grotto di Posilipo, to Pozzuola. On the 
hill through which this grotto passes, was Virgil's villa, Avhere 
he composed his immortal work, the ^Eneid — and here is* his 
tomb, where he was buried, having died at Brundusium, B. C. 
19. Visited on our way the Dog Grotto, and Salfatora, a 
cavern out of which hisses hot steam and stifling sulphurous 
smoke, passing over the amphitheater-like depression, which is 
the crater of an extinct volcano, the ground sounds hollow, 
cavernous beneath our feet, while the caverns and fissures from 
which issue jets of steam or smoke, with stifling sulphur and 
carbonic-acid gasses, show this spot on which we now stand 



NAPLES, 



127 



only a half-latent volcano, liable at any moment to micover 
the yawning terrors of a boiling volcanic cavern, whose 
destructive furies are only half concealed by an uncertain 
crust of trembling earth. 

The town of Pozzuola, now of but little importance, was 
long, the principal seaport of the Gulf of Naples. St. Paul 
landed here after his shipwreck, from whence, after remaining a 
week, he continued his trip to Rome, along the Via Apia. At 
this point, in time beyond memory, there was constructed a 
bridge to the opposite point of the gulf. Many of the pillars 
are still seen, rising above the water. Visited the remarkable 
ruins of the temple of Serapis- (Serapium) built by some 
unknown Greek or Etruscan colony in unknown times. It 
was long almost entirely hidden with gravel and ashes by 
some volcanic eruption, but this has lately been removed. It 
consisted of a square enclosed by forty-eight immense marble 
and granite columns, with many adjoining small chambers. 
The portico rested on four Corinthian columns. Three of these 
bearing a rich frieze, still remain. In the center of the court 
stood a circular temple, surrounded by Corinthian pillars. 
The interior was approached by four flights of steps. In the 
center of the inner temple was found the statue of Serapis, 
now in the Naples museum. This temple, built by, some 
ancient Greek colony, perhaps many centuries before the 
founding of Rome, had fallen into decay, and was repaired by 
Marcus Aurelius, at which time most probably the fine Corin- 
thian columns with friezes were added. Of course, when built, 
it was on the hill, high above the sea. At some subsequent 
time, unknown, it was sunk by some convulsion below the sea 
level, where it remained as a ruin, rising out of the sea for 
many centuries ; during this time of submergence, the marble 
columns were perforated for some six or eight feet near their 
middle, the lower eight feet being protected by a volcanic 



128 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

deposit of lava, by a small shell-fish, giving them a honey- 
combed appearance. Subsequently they were again elevated, 
lifted up bodily, floor, temple, pillars all, some thirty feet, and 
yet these columns are now standing erect and just as they 
were placed by the unknown people who first erected them, 
unknown, whether Etruscan or Greek, and who worshipped at 
these shrines, whose god has been in disfavor for at least 1,500 
years. Silent witness, this old temple, of a high civilization not 
indigenous, but invited here by the loveliness of its clime and 
beauty of its smiling bay, whose waters, stiiTed by aromatic 
breezes, flashed upon coral beaches of transcendent beauty, 
lining this amphitheater of hills, at a time Avhen northern 
Italy, Germany, France and England were shrouded in that 
primeval darkness that has everywhere invested primitive man. 
Another ruin farther along the range of hills, is the temple of 
Neptune, consisting of pillars rising out of the sea. Another, 
the temple of the Nymphs, that has only lately been despoiled 
of some of its remaining columns and sculptures. Farther on 
are the ruins of Cicero's Academy, or palatial villa where he 
composed his Academia and De Fato, hallowed in its memo- 
ries, but it, like the surrounding temples and palaces and villas, 
has given way, melted down by the corroding tooth of 2,000 
years, or rent from its foundations to parapet by the fearful 
earthquake-shocks to which this whole coast-line has been sub- 
jected for near 1,800 years, and that have frightened the everlast- 
ing hills, casting them from their unsteady foundations. Near 
these ruins is the Roman amphitheater, somewhat better pre- 
served, but in mouldering dislocated ruins. The groans of 
its dying gladiators, with the roar of its wild beasts and the 
shouts of its gay spectators, that died with the passing breeze, 
appear now scarcely more ephemeral than its massive walls 
and time-defying granite columns. Close by is another vol- 
canic cavern, emitting hot sulphurous vapors, the fitting 



NAPLES. 129 

breath of volcanic fires that roll in lava billows, upon which 
set the unsteady hills. Towering above this, is Monte Nuovo, 
a lofty cone-shaped hill, with an extinct crater on its summit, 
which was upheaved in a single night, Sept. 30, 1538. Olive 
trees and vineyards extend high up its sides, in all things look- 
ing much like the surrounding hills, many of which, with their 
everlasting granite bases, clapped their glad hands at crea- 
tion's dawn. 

Between this hill and the Boga Hotel Delia Regina, the 
hillsides are almost composed of ruins of villas and palaces of 
times antedating, and immediately subsequent to, the Christian 
era, and still more ancient temples. Among the latter are the 
temple of Diana and temple of Venus, once splendid temples, 
but which have long since yielded to the fearful earthquake-shock, 
with rising hills and falling rock, and are ruins all. Near this 
point is the Villa Bouli, where in A. D. 59, the devoted son 
planned the murder of his loving mother, Agrippina, who had 
tenderly planned the murder of her much-loved son, Nero. 
How fearfully must the times have been, wrenched from all 
moral anchorage when such things were possible. 

At this point is the villa of Julius Csesar, who was wont to 
retire from the din of Rome and for a season live here, at a time 
when the name of Csesar filled the world, and where his sister, 
Octavia, resided after the death of her second husband. Marc 
Antony. Near this villa, we ascended Cape Mirino, a bold, 
projecting rock, crowned by a ruined castle, from the case- 
mates of which we had a most enchanting view of the city of 
Naples, Pozzuola, with the silvery bays of Naples and Gaita, 
stretching out to the foot of Vesuvius, which, clothed in Hving 
terrors, towers to the clouds. This volcano is now in a state 
of semi-activity, great clouds of smoke and ashes are issuing 
from its snow-capped crater, while ever and anon the earth is 
felt to quiver at detonations from its half exploded magazines. 



130 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

From this point we turned and drove back to Naples. Hav- 
ing spent the entire day in this wondrously -interesting drive 
along the margin of the bay, around the semi-circle of hills 
that form this classical amphitheater of hills, the entire sides 
of which were formerly lined by splendid palaces adorned 
with, and surrounded by, all the splendor that oppulent Rome 
could produce in her prime. Emperors, orators, poets, states- 
men, heroes, alike loving to retire to this Elyseum where the 
heat of a southern clime with its semi-tropical verdure was 
tempered by the aromatic breezes from spice-laden isles beyond 
the smiling bay of Naples, and where through all historic times 
nature had been as uniformly stable as lovely. All is changed 
now, and all these splendid structures have been for more than 
a thousand years riven to atoms, torn from their foundation, 
crumbled to shapeless ruins, by volcanic forces, that, after 
forming much of this romantic coast, had slept for thousands 
of years in the deep, dark, silent, cavernous depths of Vesu- 
vius. But which in the first century of the Christian era, 
aroused from their slumbers, rent the everlasting hills as 
though they had been fragile things of clay, sunk the moun- 
tains into plains, and lifted the plains into mountains, crum- 
bling cities, temples, palaces, towns, all, as in very wantonness 
of might, laughing to scorn alike the mightiest works of man, 
and most stable things of nature. 

Looking at these ruins now before me, I can but think that 
history has made a mistake in its chronology, as these ruins look 
to be antediluvian, and were co-existent with the hills of which 
they form an undistinguishable part. But then these hills 
themselves are in some instances of quite recent origin — were 
made long since Caesar's villa, while perhaps some of these 
ruined temples reach back in their origin to times anterior to 
Jason's expedition in quest of the Golden Fleece, at which time 
this region was settled by ^-Eolians or Etruscans from Asia 



NAPLES. 131 

Minor, as this settlement is not only prehistoric but may ante- 
date Jason's expedition by many thousands of years. Certain 
it is that at some unknown remote period southern Italy was 
settled by a branch of the Aryan family, which coming into 
Europe from some point in Asia, either as conquerors driving 
out the primitive inhabitants, or themselves driven before some 
more powerful tribes, settled around the Mediterranean Sea, 
not Greeks, because not of, or from, Greece, but cognate 
peoples. 

Returning to Naples, we find 500,000 people crowded into 
six square miles, within a space three miles long by two wide, 
giving a compact mass of unpleasing houses crowded together 
without order, with narrow, crooked, alley-like streets, here 
called via, crowded with a multitudinous mass of impecunious 
macaroni eaters. They have, however,;a cheerful disposition, 
which no penury, no misfortune seems capable of depressing, 
a cheerfulness which makes us half forget their troublesome 
faults. It is gratifying to know that under the new regime, 
begging and beggers, which have almost disappeared from 
northern and middle Italy, are also rapidly disappearing here, 
and could some system of labor be devised whereby the un- 
fortunate over-crowded poor could be given employment at 
w^hich they could earn an honest living, these Neapolitans with 
their cheerful natures and better instincts would soon mount a 
higher plane whereby the name Neapolitan would no longer 
carry reproach. 

There is almost nothing that is indigenous in Naples, the 
work of man, that is valuable. Almost everything here worth 
seeing is and always has been exotic, and if a Virgil wrote here 
it was only because he did so before falling under the influence 
of this soft, enervating climate, which here invites only to re- 
pose, dissipating all the manly virtues. Consequently Naples, 
notwithstanding her superior advantages, has no history of her 



132 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

own, no indigenous warlike navies ever issued from her ports 
on expeditions of conquest or glory. Etruscans, Greeks, 
Romans, Galls, Vandals, Goths, Spaniards and Normans have 
alike been masters here, and have alike fallen under the 
enervating influence of its soft climate, and have not only 
failed to infuse into the native population a manly energy, but 
have lost their own. 

THE MUSEUM MUSEO NAZIONALO. 

No one visiting Naples — and none should come . to Italy 
without doing so — will fail to spend much time in the National 
Museum where are gathered art treasures of priceless value, 
to be found at no other place. First, on account of its 
striking appearance as well as its great worth, we will notice the 
Farnese Bull, the work of the Greek sculptor x\ppolonius, which 
though greatly mutilated when found, has been skillfully re- 
paired by perhaps the only modern artist who was worthy to 
mend a work by Appolonius — Michael Angelo. 

In this remarkable group we have an entire myth scarcely 
less intelligibly given than in a written poem. The sons of 
Antiope are avenging upon Dirce the wrongs she had done 
their mother by tying her to the horns of a wild bull, which 
they have seized upon the brow of a rugged precipice and 
which they hold with the strength of Hercules while they 
secure her to a rope passed around the horns of the wild 
animal. The bull as well as the two young men are typical of 
more than animal strength. Their mother Antiope stands in 
the background in an attitude as though imploring her sons to 
be merciful. No more wonderful work of the Greek chisel 
has come down to us. Near by this is the Farnese Hercules 
found like the former in the Thermae of Caracalla at Rome, 
and like the former a Greek work. Like the Farnese Bull, it is 
a poem, and represents a myth in which is given one of the 
labors of Hercules, which was to bring to Greece the golden 



NAPLES. 



T33 



apples from the gardens of the Hesperides and which could 
only be obtained by killing the ever-watchful dragon. After 
searching in vain over most of the world for the gardens, he 
found Atlas supporting the world upon his shoulders, and 
engaged him to get the apples. Hercules, in the meantime, 
holding the world for him. When Atlas returned with the apples, 
being tired of holding the world, he thought of taking the 
apples on to Greece and letting Hercules continue to hold the 
world, which indeed he could not let go without help. To 
this Hercules assented, provided Atlas would hold it while he 
adjusted the pad upon his shoulders. To this Atlas agreed, 
laid down the apples and took the world, but Hercules, being 
relieved, took up the apples and carried them to Greece, leav- 
ing Atlas as he found him with the world upon his shoulders, 
which in turn he could not let go without assistance. The 
statue represents Hercules leaning on his club, holding in his 
left hand behind him the much-prized apples. There is a quaint 
roguish smile in the appearance of the hero, significant of 
the trick he has played upon his friend Atlas. In the centre 
of another room is the marble statue of Serapis, found in the 
ruined temple of Serapeum,and many fine busts of Greek philoso- 
phers, poets and heroes, among them an inimitable bust of the 
old blind poet. Homer ; all Greek works. Another room is filled 
with finds in Pompeii, hundreds of bronze and iron domestic 
utensils, stoves, pans, spoons, lamps, etc. In a large case are 
surgical instruments found in the house of the surgeon — probes, 
bistouries, surgical needles, speculae, forceps, etc. In another 
case are the contents of a grocery and fconfectionery shop, figs, 
walnuts, grapes and various fruits and seeds, perfectly preserved, 
with pound-cakes, jelly-cakes, split open and a layer of jelly 
placed between the slices, just as at the present day. Muffin 
and other cake-rings and patterns, just such as we have at 
present. 



134 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVPX. 

POMPEII, OR THE CITY OF THE DEAD. 

An ancient Oscan city, founded at an unkno^\ai period, per- 
haps 1500 years before Christ, and when it became a Roman 
town, in the fourth century, was a prosperous city with a 
large commerce, and though of Greek origin and civilization, 
at the beginning of the Christian era, had become thoroughly 
Romanized. In A. D. 63 it was nearly destroyed by a fearful 
earthquake, which threw down most of the houses, perhaps all 
the taller ones, and much injured the walls of all, as seen in 
their repairs. So much was the destruction that it had to be 
rebuilt. This, through the assistance of imperial Rome, at 
this time mistress of the world, was soon accomplished, inso- 
much that within a few years it was fully restored with life and 
business as gay and active as before its destruction, and what 
is almost certain, really finer than before the calamity. Look- 
ing now at this singular occurrence, what at the time was 
a great calamity to many, appears indeed a most fortunate 
accident, as the newly-built city was to become embalmed, if 
XiQlfor, at least serving to instruct, all future times, as without 
this preceding earthquake and destruction of the old city, while 
it would alike have been embalmed with its art treasures, it 
would not have so perfectly presented us with the social condi- 
tion, art culture, and manner of living in a Roman city at the 
beginning of the Christian era, or 1,800 years ago. As it is 
the city presents us with the conditions essentially of a new 
city, giving everything not as it had been, but as it actually 
was in A. D. 79. This restoration of the city was hardly 
completed, as while the private houses, residences, admitting 
no delay, had all been occupied for years, some of the larger 
public buildings were in a state of restoration. In some cases 
the columns prepared and on the ground but not yet raised, 
in others the walls and columns up but the roof not yet on, or 
the frescoing of the walls not yet finished. In this state, the 



POMPEII. 



135 



embodiment of the time, the whole city, as if intended for a 
Belle Arte Museum for future times, was, on the 24th of August, 
A. D. 79, buried beneath a shower of ashes from the over- 
hanging volcano, Mount Vesuvius. This destruction was as 
overwhelming and universal as sudden and unexpected, for, 
though warned of the dangerous character of the neighboring 
mount by the destructive earthquake of only sixteen years 
previous, that this warning should not have been understood, 
forgotten or neglected, by these gay, prosperous and luxury- 
loving people, was most natural when it is known that from time 
immemorial Vesuvius had given -no indications of volcanic 
activity. Vineyards and oHve trees extended up its sides to 
near its summit, while cattle grazed, and had done so for hun- 
dreds of years, upon the flat, grass-covered meadows on its 
summit. At the time of its destruction the city contained some 
30,000 inhabitants. Only about one-third of the town has been 
excavated and this gives evidence of having been densely 
peopled, the entire ground having been covered with buildings 
and their courts, and narrow streets, twenty feet wide, well 
paved with flat blocks of lava. These pavements are old, of 
course, not having been disturbed by the^previous earthquake 
by which the houses were thrown down, and are cut into deep 
ruts by the wagons and carriages and carts that had passed 
over them for centuries. Like all walled cities, the streets 
were not only narrow but tortuous, crooked, short. 

The walls are still standing around the entire city, but are 
entirely (except where exposed by excavations) covered to a 
depth of many feet with ashes. We ascend a flight of steps 
and enter the city through the Porta Marino, or sea gate, at 
one time immediately on or near the wharf, now removed a 
mile from the bay. Passing under an archway we came out in 
the open city. Nothing can be more strange. Nearly all the 
houses are only one or only a part of a story high, all the upper 



136 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

portion having been thrown down or pressed in with the roof, 
by the weight of ashes — nothing but bare walls with narow, 
crooked streets between them. The unexcavated parts of the 
city rise fifteen or twenty feet above the tops of the houses in 
the excavated portions, as a smooth plain, giving no indications 
of houses beneath the surface upon, which cattle have grazed 
for centuries. Looking over beyond this elevated plain, be- 
yond what we afterwards learned was the wall of the city, the 
surface suddenly becomes depressed, presenting an extended 
evel plain some thirty or forty feet lower than the surface of 
the town. At first we were disposed to account for this phe- 
nomenal condition of the surface-level by supposing the ashes, 
like snow, had drifted, or that they had fallen much heavier 
here than there, and felt regret that the city had not been 
situated farther over on the plain where the ashes appeared to 
have fallen not near so deep. The first theory, however, that 
of drifting of the material, was at once dissipated by observing 
the character of the material which is scoria, ashes, cinders 
and stones, some of the latter as large as cannon balls, that 
had crushed down through roof and ceiling to the solid pave- 
ment below. A fearful hail-storm this. The next theory, that 
it was unfortunate that the city was not situated further over 
on the lower plain, was corrected by learning that all this 
lower surface, upon which cattle were now grazing, or was 
under cultivation, was at that time the open sea, the gulf of 
Naples, extending quite up to the walls of the city, and was 
filled up by a like fall of ashes and stones to that which 
covered the city. Doubtless the bottom of the bay, extending 
between the city and the present water line, has also been 
elevated by subsequent volcanic forces. 

Under the care of an intelligent government guide, we went 
over the city along its well-worn paved streets which give 
frequent proofs that a city election was near at hand, by 



POMPEII. 137 

paintings on the pavements and side walls urging the claims 
of their candidate, just as printed placards announce such 
facts at the present day. The houses are generally small 
and divided up into a number of small apartments. The 
numerous shops opened directly onto the streets, but the 
dwelling houses had neither doors nor windows on the sides 
next the streets, but presented long, dark, blind walls to the 
streets, the houses opening into an open court, which is 
entered from the street by a passage. These houses, although 
the rooms (the bed and family rooms in particular) are small, 
very small, had many or all the conveniences of modern houses. 
Leaden pipes are seen, with stop-cocks for turning on or off 
the water, which was brought to the city from some distant 
source, just as we have at the present day. In the open 
court of the houses was a small water-tank with vases for 
flowers around, and flower-beds bordering it. There was a 
large sitting-room or parlor in the house next the open court, 
and this with some of the smaller rooms had been furnished 
gaudily, extravagantly. In the houses of the wealthy, the 
walls of the rooms were in most cases decorated with frescoes, 
in many instances highly finished and beautiful. Indeed there 
is every proof that these luxurious Pompeians were a highly- 
cultivated, artistic people. Many of these frescoes would do 
credit to the finest halls in New York or St. Louis. Often the 
character, calling or taste of the owner is easily determined by 
these frescoes. One house we entered belonged, unquestiona- 
bly, to a sporting gentleman, whose tastes were much as an 
English gentleman of the present day, fond of fishing, and the 
chase. Here on the wall was a beautiful fresco, a pack of 
hounds attacking a wild boar ; there a stag pursued by hounds 
and hunter; again, several kinds of game just brought in by the 
successful hunter ; then he is seen going out hunting with dogs, 
footmen and game-bag; here again, are fish and an angler in 



138 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

the act of pulling one out of the brook. Another house be- 
longed to a tragic poet who is reading Sophocles to actors on 
the stage. Another house belonged to a wine merchant, 
Here are five empty wine jars sitting on a table and evidently 
holding different kinds of wine, beneath is a wine cellar, etc. 
Another house is a bakery. Here are kneading troughs, there 
the ovens in which the bread was baked and could be baked 
now. Another house is a miller's. Here are the mill-stones and 
hoppers in which the corn was ground, and could be ground 
to-day. These curious mills were to me exceedingly interest- 
ing, as being the models of the mills, with their stones and 
hoppers, used in the country when I was a boy. Here is a 
large theatre with its long rows of stone seats rising one above 
the other. Here, a temple to Mercury, with an altar in the 
middle in marble, with reliefs ; on the front, victims ; on the 
side sacrificial utensil ; on back, oak garlands. A temple of 
Jupiter unfinished. Pantheon — the walls decorated with 
frescoes, beautiful in its ruins, but unfinished at time of the 
catastrophe. House of Meleager — a beautiful edifice with 
fountains, porticoes, frescoes in yellow. House of the Faun — 
so-cahed from the bronze statuette of a dancing faun found 
here. It belonged to a gentleman of great wealth and culture, 
is the finest house in Pompeii, is 202 feet long and 125 feet 
broad. It contains many beautiful frescoes and mosaics. At 
the entrance in mosaic is the greeting, "Have." Other mosaics 
represent doves near a casket. Its roof was supported by twenty- 
eight marble Ionic columns, on its walls was a beautiful fresco, 
Battle of Alexander ; at the back is a garden enclosed by fifty- 
four Doric columns. The Stadium Therma, or warm baths, 
with a sudatorium or sweating room, a splendid establish- 
ment containing a great number of cold and warm baths, with 
neat little bathing rooms furnished with shelves for the clothes, 
towels, etc. The amphitheatre is at the far end of the town, 



VESUVIUS. 139 

has seats for 20,000 spectators, dens for the wild animals and 
a large area for fighting them, or for the combats of gladiators. 
The floors of all the houses are paved, many of them beauti- 
fully tesselated, and not a few have elaborate mosaics. The 
streets are named as in a modern city. The work of removing 
the lava and ashes from the remaining two -thirds of the city is 
progressing slowly. It is calculated that at the present rate 
the entire city will be excavated in seventy years. What will 
be revealed in the yet uncovered portions is, of course, im- 
possible to say, many art treasures will doubtless be found. It 
is thought that the most important parts of the city have been 
cleared, but this is entirely conjecture, as we are as profoundly 
ignorant of the other parts as we were of the part cleared. All 
particulars of this long-lost city are, and have long been, un- 
known. Only as they are revealed by removing the ashes do 
we learn anything concerning them. It is generally supposed 
that nearly all the inhabitants escaped, only some eighty skeletons 
having been found, but this does not prove that they were saved, 
as they may have fled to some other part of the city, that part 
farthest from the flaming mountain, for greater safety and 
there been overwhelmed en masse. This can only be de- 
termined when the entire city is excavated, if indeed then, as 
they may have fled to the ships or beyond the walls and then 
perished. 

VESUVIUS. 

Jan. 13th., i88S' — The weather during our stay of eight 
days at Naples had been rainy, cold, disagreeable, except two 
or three days, which we had devoted to visiting the surround- 
ing district. On Tuesday the 13th, although the weather 
was unsettled, threatening, stormy, in company with Mrs. .1 
and her lovely nieces, we set out for the ascent of Vesuvius, 
at present in a state of semi-eruption. Great volumes of 
smoke, forming an inverted cone of angry, turbulent, bfllowy 



14© SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

darkness, stand over the mountain during the day, which ilkim- 
inated at night look like a city in conilagration, lighting up 
land and sea with a lurid glare. The ascent is made by car- 
riage some ten miles to, and up, the mountain, as far as the 
railroad depot. This took three and a half hours hard driving. 
At this point we took a car which is drawn almost perpendic- 
ularly upwards, at an angle of 65', making an ascent of 1300 
feet in 900 yards, the length of the road. Then w^e climb up 
the cone 200 yards to the crater. It is thought to be rather a 
bold undertaking with an eruption threatening at any moment 
in good weather, but almost hazardous on a stormy day, such 
as this proved to be. Storm-threatening clouds Hit across the 
heavens, which, Avith fitful gusts of wind and occasional smoth- 
ered sunbeams, gave a still more wild and weird appearance to 
the fantastically rugged scene around us. From the foot of 
the mountain cjuite up to the railroad depot, vast masses of 
lava, in strangely distorted winding ridges, covered the sides of 
the mountain. These lava masses, which have been thrown 
from the crater at a comparatively recent eruption, still pre- 
serve their rugged outlines in terrific grandeur. The vast 
masses of liquid lava, in running down the sides of the moun- 
tain, had cooled, becoming semi-solid, then stiffening into 
plastic, then hard stone. In this process they had rolled into 
all conceivable shapes, evidencing the cyclonic fury of the 
forces engaged in their shaping. Here mountain-piles of huge 
snakes, hydra-headed and distorted in their coils, with here 
and there giants that had petrified in their struggles to free 
themselves from these folds, now monstrous vultures mixed 
up with winged lions or uncouth monsters of the deep, gave 
present evidence of titanic forces, at the struggle of w^hich all 
nature had been convulsed. The wind had increased to a 
furious gale, while darkening storm-clouds veiled the heavens, 
and cast a shadowy gloom on the depths deep below. When 



VESUVIUS. 141 

half way up the railroad and hanging apparently midway be- 
tween heaven and earth, suspended only by a wire rope, the 
clouds lifted and the sun shone as a bright flash through the 
opening, lighting up the vast landscape with almost a painful 
vividness, revealing a scene grandly beautiful. Far off in the 
distance flashed the sun-lit amphitheatre of hills that engirdle 
the bay. The islands of Cai)ri and Ischia shone as fairy gar- 
dens in a crystal lake, while on this side the bright coast-line 
appeared as far as Vallo. The city of Naples was at our feet, 
almost directly beneath us, while the gulf of Naples, lashed to 
fury by the storm-wind, flashed as a sea of boiling licjuid-sil- 
ver glory. It was only a moment, when the storm-cloud reach- 
ed us in all its fury, just as we had commenced the steep 
climb up the cone, and with a force seemingly aggravated by 
the dangers of our situation. On we struggled through . the 
deep snow, and yet deeper volcanic ashes, along a narrow 
ridge over which the wind, as if delighting in our helplessness, 
threatened, at every moment, to hurl us to the vast depths be- 
low. As we approached the crater, the blinding storm of hail 
and snow, with the thick gathering clouds, through which we 
walked, had so increased the darkness that we groped our way 
at noon-day not without difficulty. We were now in the midst 
of tangible volcanic action, walking over a thin crust of new- 
made lava which overlays a vaulted roof of unknown, but no 
great thickness, which alone separated us from the burning 
caldron beneath. Through a hundred fissures in this crust 
issued, with a hissing noise, as the breath of hydra-headed 
monsters, stifling, hot, sulphurous vapors, while here and there 
were larger openings or chimneys from the red-hot mouths of 
which issued sparks and flames. We stood now on half-liquid, 
half-cooled lava, vomited from these small craters only three 
days before, when the mountain was so active that the 
railroad authorities refused us permission to make the ascent ; 



142 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

and so active now was the volcanic forces that one of these 
furnaces, which we had passed fifteen minutes before, as wc 
returned had fallen in, half filhng it with red-hot cinders. The 
wreaths of sulphurous smoke, lifted by the storm and whirled 
into fantastic forms of stifling vapors, added to by the wild, 
lurid glare of the open craters around us, heightened by the 
cavernous bowlings of the storm, in symphony with the deep- 
toned bellowings beneath us, awed even our stolid guides, who 
advanced with hesitancy and turned back with manifest de- 
light. We hastened to the railroad, that looked as though the 
cars had been hung on to the moon to await us, and, with feel- 
ings of relief, again returned to Naples. Our descent from the 
top of the cone was much easier than our ascent, and made in 
much less time ; perhaps this time was somewhat shortened by 
the knowledge of the dread dangers behmd us. 

ROME. 

The Eternal City, whose name was long the synonym of 
the world, and in whose history, for half a thousand years, 
was written that of all nations, and whose ruins are redolent 
of the mightiest achievements and greatest triumphs of civiliza- 
tion over the untaught savage tribes of men, long the light 
of the world, which at her fall was shrouded in cimmerian 
darkness, a darkness of the soul, to be again dispelled only, by 
the smothered hght of ages, emitted by disturbance of her 
ashes. 

Here, some two hundred years after the time when Homer 
sang the exploits of gods find heroes, a city was founded by a 
few freebooters, on one of the seven lava hills that guard the 
Tiber. This soon possessed the others, then the adjacent 
country, and then the world, which, like the sun, it lighted and 
governed. Here was builded palaces, temples, amphitheatres 
and other mighty works, not alone the wonder of the age, but 



ROME. 



M3 



whose very ruins awe and inspire the world, and from whose 
broken columns, time-defying arches and mouldering walls 
flashed the Renaissance evolving into the glory of the present 
wondrous nineteenth century. Hallowed mother ! whose tears, 
like our affections, are immortal, and whose mighty deeds were 
carved too deeply on the world's history ever to be effaced. 
But, though long the world's Niobe, she is so no longer, as she 
again wears a civic crown only, and from her reanimated dust 
has sprung a united Italy that is coming forth to assist in the 
conquest of the world, not now by the force of arms but by the 
arts of peace. Already the dark places in Africa have flashed 
her coming light. 

In approaching Rome from Naples, we cross the wide ex- 
panse of the Campagna de Roma, once the granary of Rome, 
which now is, and for a thousand years has been, a vast unculti- 
vated paludal waste, the fitting home of death-bearing malaria. 
This endre plain was at one time in the world's history a part 
of the sea from which it was redeemed by floods of lava ejected 
from the adjacent hills, the extinct craters now forming beauti- 
ful lakes upon these summits as Lacus Albana. This lava 
being impervious, retains, when uncultivated and undrained, 
the surface-water, forming it into a vast half-marshy district 
during the wet season, which drying up in the hot season, the 
rotting, rank vegetation causes the destructive fevers from which 
the wretched inhabitants of the Campagna are compelled to 
flee, hastening to the hills upon the approach of autumn, This 
condition, the result of neglect, caused by destructive invasions 
of Goths and Vandals, and aggravated and continued by 
Church grants to religious orders, we may hope will now be re- 
paired under the new regime of united Italy, of which, once 
more, Rome is the capital. Across this dreary waste, and 
nearly parallel with the road, is seen a long line of stately, im- 
posing ruins, the aqueduct of ancient Rome. These stately 



144 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

arches, extending many miles, snpported or formed on tlieir 
surtace a trough alonii which the stream of water ran, and as 
the trough had to be level, only a slight and continuous de- 
cline, the arches are of different heights according to the sur- 
face-level oi' the ground over which the line passed, some 
tNventy, thirty, forty or fifty teet in height. Most of these 
massive arches are intact at the ju'esent time, having battled 
successfully against tlie storms oi' 2,000 years, while here 
and there a broken arch, that has yielded most likely to an 
earthquake shock, gives evidence alike of w^hat Rome has 
been and now is. No ruins in Rome or elsewhere, not even 
excepting the Colosseum, imin-essed me more than this long 
hue of massive arches. 

Now the Eternal City breaks upon the vision, and, with the 
golden ravs of a setting sun hditing up its ruined towers and 

o J 0001 

lofty spires, tills the soul with emotion, for who could approach 
Rome without emotion? In the distance, towering far above 
all others, lifting its dome to the clouds, is seen the grandest 
temple ever erected by human hands, San Pietro (St. Peter's), 
retlecting the genius of ages. The present cathedral is said to 
be on the site of a basilica church, built in the time of Con- 
stantine in A. D. 340, and upon one of the spots where St. 
Peter was crucilied. Put as we are shown several dilTerent 
places here in Rome where reliable legends assure us St. Peter 
was crucified, there may be some mistake here. But we are glad 
to know that this does not alTect the grandeur of the cathedral, 
the building of which required 100 years, jmd absorbed much 
of the income ofeighteendifterent pontiles, costing $60,000,000, 
which was equal to $t 00.000,000 at the present day. The 
first architect was Bramonte. but he died before the work was 
tairly commenced, then Raphael, San Gallo, INIichael .\ngelo 
and others. 

We approach St. Peter's Cathedral through a piazza in the 



ROME. 145 

centre of which is an immense Egyptian obelisk, 130 feet in 
height, of one solid block of granite. On either side of this 
obelisk at the distance of 200 or 300 feet is a beautiful foun- 
tain sending fc^rth crystal jets some thirty or forty feet in height. 
On either side of these fountains are semicircular colonnades 
of four rows of beautiful marble columns, seventy feet high. 
At the farther side of this piazza we mount three flights of 
marble steps to the open portico, 80 feet wide and 468 feet 
long, supported by lofty marble columns. Five high portals 
open from the vestibule into the church. This vestibule is 
paved with variegated marble and covered with a gilt vault 
eighty feet above the pavement, and is farther adorned with 
pillars, pilasters, mosaics and bas reliefs, with erjuestrian statues 
at either end, one of Constantine, the other Charlemagne. 
Over the vestibule is a bas relief, Christ giving the keys to St. 
Peter. The church is 615 feet long by 450 feet wide. The 
dome to the summit of the lantern is 403 feet above the pave- 
ment, and is supported by four columns or buttresses, each 234 
feet in circumference. There are twenty-nine altars in the 
church and many of the side rooms are as large as an ordinary 
church. The vast floor and walls are paved with variegated 
marble. Many statues of popes and saints fill the niches. 
Among the statues is one of vSt. Peter, in bronze, seated on a 
throne. This bronze statue of the tutelar saint of the Church 
is held in great veneration by the devotees of this temple, so 
much so that its projecting bronze foot has the toes kissed off 
by human lips. Now sceptics say that this bronze statue, held 
in so much reverence, is not, and never was, the statue of St. 
Peter or any other Saint or Christian, but the statue of a 
heathen god, Jupiter, while the great bronze door to the 
church would certainly better suit the temple of Jupiter than 
of Christ, as it contains elaborate heathen myths, among them 
the Rape of Europa. We ascended the lofty dome, 400 feel 



146 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

above the pavement, from which we had a fine view of Rome 
and surrounding campagna as far as the snow-clad hills. 

Visited the church of St. Pietro in Vinculo (St. Peter in 
chains) in which are preserved the chain with which St. Peter 
was bound when in prison here. Said chain was preserved by 
the wife of Valentinian and given to Pope Leo I. The interior 
of the church is a basilica with twenty antique Doric columns, 
and contains the monuments of many distinguished painters 
and learned men. In mosaic, St. Peter with the keys and 
chains. Several marble statues ; among them the famous 
statue of Moses by Michael Angelo. This statue, so much 
admired, is rendered ridiculous by horns. Two horns, several 
inches long, on his head, are to me utterly revolting, so much 
so that the other attributes or perfections of this statue, utterly 
fail to redeem it. Moses here looks much more like a Hindoo 
god than a Jewish lawgiver. But this blundering is not the fault 
of Michael Angelo, but the error of the translators of Exodus, 
chap, xxxiv : 35. 

Church of St. Maria Majiore, a name signifying that this is the 
largest of the many churches here in Rome dedicated to the 
Virgin. It is one of the oldest churches in Christendom, and 
owes its origin to a visitation of the Virgin, who appeared to 
the patrician Johannes and Pope Liberius (only in their dreams 
however) and commanded them to build to her a church on that 
spot where on the morning of the 5th of August they should 
find snow. The church is ornamented with many beautiful 
mosaics of the thirteenth century. The lofty roof is supported 
by forty-two Corinthian columns. In front of the high altar is a 
porphyry sarcophagus that contains, or did once contain, the 
body of St. Matthew (?). There are here also ten porphyry 
columns and five boards from the manger ofthe infant Christ(?). 
Over the altar which is gorgeously decorated with lapis lazula 
and agate is an ancient and miraculous picture of the Virgin, 
painted by St. Luke(?). 



ROME. 147 

Piazza de S. Giovani in Laterano, is, next to St. Peter's 
the most important church in Rome. In the centre of the 
piazza is the largest Egyptian obelisk in Rome, and there are 
fifteen or eighteen of these beautiful obelisks here, brought 
here when Rome was the mistress of the world and Egypt was 
one of her provinces, and consequently her wondrous works of 
art were but the spoils of the conqueror, and brought to Rome 
to adorn the only city in the world worthy of them. This 
obelisk, not only the largest in Rome but said to be the largest 
in the world, is of red granite, and, like all obelisks, of one solid 
piece. It was brought by Constantius from Thebes, in Egypt, 
where it had been erected by Thothmes III., one of Moses' 
Pharaohs, 1,600 years B. C, 3,500 years ago. On the 
opposite side is an edifice containing the Scala Santa, or holy 
stairs, once belonging to the palace of Pontius Pilate, and 
the very marble steps upon which the Savior trod (?). They 
were brought here from Pilate's palace in Jerusalem some 
few hundred years after the destruction of Jerusalem. At the 
top of the steps is the sancta sanctorum which it is permitted 
to reach only by ascending the steps on the knees. At almost 
all times of the day a number of devout men and women may 
be seen crawling up these steps on their knees, kissing the 
steps and repeating their prayers or counting their beads. 
Absolution from all sins is obtained by making the ascent ; or, 
if desired, by counting beads and saying enough prayers, an 
immunity or receipt against purgatory for a thousand years 
may be obtained. We saw two or three men and as many 
women making this painful ascent, kissing the steps — no, not 
the marble steps supposed to have been sanctified by the feet 
of the Savior, for these were covered with wooden boards, but 
kissing these planks; rather a diluted grace one might suppose. 
It is but just to say that all those we saw were of the poor and 
most ignorant class; but better people, I am told, are sometimes 



148 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

found making this ascent. It is said that Luther once started 
on this pious task, but, after getting half way, up arose to his 
feet and walked down repeating " The just shall live by faith.'' 
The church is a basilica, first built in the time of Constantine. 
It was overthrown by an earthquake, and rebuilt in its present 
form in the ninth century, and consequently is 1,000 years old. 
The nave, 420 feet long, is divided from the aisles by lofty 
marble pillars, and the walls and ceiling gorgeously decorated 
with mosaics, frescoes, paintings of apostles, saints popes 
and martyrs. In the baptistery on the piazza is the fountain, 
a marble basin, in which we are told Constantine was baptized 
by Pope Sylvester, m 324. It is believed, however, that this 
is mythical, and that Constantine was not baptized here or 
elsewhere, if so, only on his death-bed. Tlie Museum 
Gregorianum contains many statues and other antique works 
of much interest, and would fully repay careful study. Among 
these are a statue of Poseidon, found at Porto, a marble statue 
of Sophocles, by Praxiteles, one of the finest statues in exist- 
ence, a sarcophagus with the Calydonian Hunt in bas relief, 
on its sides ancient Christian inscriptions, miracle of Jonah, 
mosaics and frescoes. 

VATICAN PALACE. 

This is the largest palace in the world, and said to be the 
finest, and yet with all its gorgeous splendor it is an awkward 
and unsightly structure. ATsiting the museum in a carriage, we 
cross through the piazza under the colonnade, driving around, 
behind, and several hundred yards beyond, St. Peter's Cathe- 
dral. We get out of the carriage and walk several hundreds of 
yards farther along the palace wall and beyond the garden gate, 
when we enter by way of the noble stairway, and ascend to 
the hall of the Greek cross. This stairway is elaborately 
ornamented with bronze balustrades, entablatures, bas reliefs 
and columns of marble, granite and porphyry. The door-way 



ROME. 



149 



through which we enter the hall is of red granite, with red 
granite statues of Telemus on either side. There are three 
beautiful antique mosaics inlaid in the floor or pavement. 
They represent Minerva armed with the helmet and aegis and 
four genii, Bacchus distributing wine, baskets of grapes, flowers, 
etc. On either side is a colossal Egyptian Sphinx of much 
interest. Two colossal sarcophagi made out of single blocks 
of red porphyry, with bas and alto reliefs of flne workmanship. 
These sarcophagi rest each on four immense marble lions. 
One of them, we are told, once contained the remains of the 
daughter of Constantine the Great. The bas reliefs are pagan 
but like many other pagan ideas and works have been inter- 
preted into Christian symbols. In a niche in this hall is the 
Cnidian Venus, a Greek work of much beauty. The next 
room, the rotunda, is ornamented with stucco work; the roof 
is supported by fluted columns of marble. The niches 
contain small statues of Greek workmanship. In the centre 
of the pavement floor is one of the largest and most beautiful 
of ancient mosaics, representing combats between Centaurs 
Nereids, Tritons, and sea monsters, with beautiful flower 
borders. Here also is an immense antique porphyry vase 
forty-two feet in circumference and more than 2,000 years old. 
It was found in the baths of Titus. On each side of the 
entrance are busts of Hermes, found at Hadrian's Villa. At 
the side of the hall a colossal Greek statue of Jupiter Tonens, 
worthy the statue of a god, and a colossal statue of Hadrian's 
favorite, Antinous, a work of great beauty, perhaps the finest 
male statue that has descended to us from antiquity. A beau- 
tiful statue of Ceres holding ears of wheat in her hand. A 
colossal bronze statue of Hercules holding in his right hand a 
club upon which he is resting, inhislefthand the golden ap- 
ples taken from the garden of the Hesperides. The skin of the 
Nemean lion is thrown gracefully over his shoulders. This is 



150 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

thought to be a Greek work. Pius IX. purchased it for the 
sum of $54,000. A statue of Juno Regina, called the 
Barberino Juno, found in the baths of Olympia, is quite as 
beautiful as the most renowned of the Greek Venuses — is a 
great work. A colossal statue of Claudius as Jupiter, said to 
be the best likeness extant of this Emperor. Many other 
statues of great beauty and of the best period of Greek art 
adorn this hall. 

HALL OF THE MUSES. 

This is a splendid octagonal hall with dome supported by 
ten columns of Carrara marble, the capitals are ancient Corin- 
thian found in Hadrian's Villa. Frescoes of the Muses on 
ceiling. Oil paintings in the corners represent Homer, Virgil, 
Calliope and Tasso. The mosaics in the pavement are from 
Pompeii and Hadrian's Villa. Statues of Hermes, Diogenes, 
Sophocles, Mercury, Persephone and Ceres. 

Hall of animals in mosaics found at Palestrina, and a vast 
collection of animals in marble ; a griffin in alabaster, an eagle 
fighting with a monkey, a stag attacked by a dog or wolf, goose 
killing a snake, and a great quantity of other animals, in 
which plastic marble is made as expressive as oil paintings. 

HALL OF THE STATUES. 

We can only mention a few of the vast number of fine stat- 
ues. A Cupid, by Praxiteles ; a bas relief of offerings to Escu- 
lapius ; Hygea, etc.; Penelope seated ; Amazon ; Apollo. 

The hall of busts contains a great many busts and statues 
by Greek artists — Esculapius, Faun by Praxiteles, Domitia, 
wife of Domitian; two large candelabra of white marble, etc. 

Hall of masks contains dancing girls in marble — Apotheosis 
of Hadrian ; Venus leaving the bath ; infant Hercules strangling 
a serpent — a fine Greek work — etc. Cabinet of Laocoon con- 
tains this wondrous group, the work of the Rhodian sculptor, 
Agesander, and his two sons. It represents Laocoon, priest 



ROME. 151 

of Neptune, in the act of sacrificing on the sea-shore near 
Troy, attacked together with his two sons by a monstrous 
hydra-headed serpent which envelopes all three in its folds, 
while it sinks its deadly fangs in their sides. The work is an 
unrivalled production of Greek art. There are many other 
statues and groups here of great merit, but we forget all in 
contemplating the Laocoon group. 

CABINET OF APOLLO. 

This room contains the celebrated statue, the Apollo Belvi- 
dere. The god is represented as having just discharged an 
arrow, perhaps at the children of Niobe. A more beautiful 
statue of the human form divine, or of gods', was never made 
in marble, if we except two or three Greek Venuses. The hall of 
Meleager contains a masterpiece of Greek art, the world-re- 
nowned fabulous hunter, Meleager, with his dog. Meleager is 
bearing the head of the Calydonian Boar, which has long laid 
waste the lands and destroyed everyone sent to hunt it, and 
which he has just killed. 

Another vestibule contains, among other sculpture, the Bel- 
videre Torso, so much admired by Raphael, Michael Angelo 
and others. It is a mutilated statue of Hercules, by Apollonius, 
son of Nestor, the Athenian. I failed, as I had always done 
in plaster casts of this statue, to see any particular beauty in 
this mutilated statue. We spent days among this great col- 
lection that constitutes the world's museum of sculpture. In- 
deed were we to add to it the Farnese Bull, and Hercules from 
the Naples museum, and the Venus de Medici and the Niobe 
Group from Florence, the Venus de Milo from the Louvre, 
with the Freize of the Pantheon from Athens, now in the British 
museum, known as the Elgin Marbles, we would have all that 
is truly great, grand, beautiful, sublime of the sculpture of the 
world. And if the chisel of Phidias ever produced better, as 
it is thought it did, it is perhaps as well that such works have 



152 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

not come down to us, as it would be impossible for modern 
art or culture, no matter how gifted or cultivated, to appreciate 
them. 

VATICAN PICTURE GALLERIES. 

As all things are esteemed by comparison, it is just possible 
that after having examined the vast collection of incomparable 
sculpture just referred to, we may at first feel some disappoint- 
ment on passing into the picture gallery. But while the pic- 
tures in this gallery, of the highest merit, are but few, these by 
their excellence fully compensate for the absence of the many 
of less merit. We shall, however, notice only a few of these. 

The BoIogJia School.. — This is the first saloon we enter. The 
Virgin and Child, by Francia. The- Last Communion of St. 
Jerome, by Domenichino, is a grand and glorious work, and 
would do credit to Leonardo da. Vinci. It has a curious his- 
tory illustrating the darkness and ignorance of the cloister and 
Church in regard to works of art, causing the destruction, by 
neglect or by whitewashing over the finest works of the fifteenth 
century. These works are even now being revealed after being 
lost for centuries. This work was pamted for the monastery 
at the stipulated price of $65. Many years afterwards the 
great French painter, Poussin, was employed by these monks 
to paint for them an altar piece, and was offered this picture, 
which was found covered with dust in an obscure closet of the 
monastery, as old canvas upon which to paint his piece. 
Poussin, to his immortal credit, at the sight of the picture, not 
only refused to commit such a vandalism, but tore up his lucra- 
tive contract, declaring that he was unable to produce such a 
work. Under Napoleon L, this painting with other treasures, 
was carried off to France, where, so greatly was it esteemed, 
that it was valued at $5,000. St. Jerome is represented as an 
exceedingly old man, wasted to a mere skeleton by long vigils 
and fasting, unable to support himself, half-reclining, half- 



ROME. 



153 



kneeling, he is receiving this, his last sacrament, from the hands 
of a bishop of the Greek Church, assisted by deacons. A noble 
Roman lady, an early convert to Christianity, St. Paula, is 
kneeling by his side weeping and in the act of kissing the 
holy man's hand. A lion, his constant desert companion, is 
lying near his feet, while an Arab, wearing his turban, stands 
sorrowfully looking on, and at a little distance above, hosts of 
angels hover in the air. The scene is laid on the altar steps 
at Bethlehem, in Judea. A Crucifixion, by Guido Reni, a fine 
picture, l>y a great artist. The Acts of St. Nicholas, by Fra 
Angelico. The figures in this allegorical painting are in min- 
iature, very beautiful. It is in the last act, when the Saint is in 
glory surrounded by angels, the divine gift of this gentle 
monk, Fra Angelico, appears to best advantage. Indeed so 
meek, gentle, and lovely were his life and character, that he 
seems to have lived among the angelic hosts he so much de- 
lights to paint. 

Sixtus IV. — This painting was formerly a fresco on one of 
the walls of the old Vatican Library, and was removed by order 
of Pope Leo XII. to canvas, without the least damage. How 
is this done ? It is now a painting on canvas. I have seen 
several frescoes that have been thus transferred. It really 
looks like transferring a shadow after the substance has faded. 
And I have asked several painters how it was done without 
receiving an explanation. 

THE ROMAN SCHOOL. 

The Mysteries, by Raphael. This is said to be his earliest 
painting and done when he was only 19 years of age. It has 
much merit and certainly forecasts his subsequent triumphs in 
the unequaled excellence of his Madonnas. 

The Theological Virtues, by Raphael. The three virtues, 
Faith, Hope and Charity, are charmingly given in perhaps the 
only manner they could be given on canvas, as three beautiful 



154 bOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

young women, and though a work of his younger years, if the 
virtues are as lovely as these women, then all men should be 
ready to adopt them. I heartily accepted all three. 

The Transfiguration, by Raphael. This is the crowning 
glory of the Vatican, as indeed it would be of any picture gal- 
• lery, a grand and glorious painting in oil, made in the prime, 
as well as last, period of Raphael's life. This wondrous paint- 
ing, like a glorious setting sun, after having through the day 
painted hill and dale in gorgeous beauty, kissing buds to flowers 
and flowers to golden fruit, at its setting lights earth and 
heaven with a glory so transcendently lovely that we almost 
forget his path of triumph through the day — awes us into sub- 
limest reverence. It has been pronounced by eminent judges 
the finest painting in the world, and certainly has but one 
rival, his Sistine Madonna, ni the Dresden gallery. The 
painting was made for the Cathedral in France, by order of 
Cardinal Julio di Medici, who, afterwards, on becoming pope, 
refused to let it be removed. Raphael received $1,650 for 
the painting, which although an unprecedented sum at the 
time, represents but a small fraction of what it would now 
bring. The picture is divided into two parts, one of which, 
in mid air, high above a mountain top, is Christ ascending in 
graceful, easy motion, his body enveloped by a graceful mantle. 
On either side are Moses and Elias, enveloped also in loose, 
flowing mantles. These three figures so clearly indicate 
breath, motion, that we almost believe we can see them 
ascending into the opening heavens. They are not on clouds, 
but appear to rise on the buoyant air. Beneath, on the top of 
the mountain, he prostrate the three apostles, St. Peter in the 
middle, with St. John on one side, St. James on the other. xA.ll 
are hiding their faces with their hands, as though dazzled by 
the divine light emitted from the body of the ascending 
Christ. Off to one side under some trees, by a fearful anach- 



ROME. 



155 



ronisra which, however, does not mar the effect, are seen St. 
Julian and other more modern saints kneeling in adoration. 
At the foot of the mountain is a group, among which is one 
possessed by a devil, and others with various diseases, implor- 
ing the apostles to cure them. The apostles, nine in number, in 
different groups, show by their emotion their perplexity. One 
of the apostles is excitedly relating their perplexity to one 
newly arrived, who, by his indifference is shown to be Judas. 
The beautiful young woman kneeling is Raphael's enamorata, 
Beatrice Fornarina. The apostles indicate that he who could 
have cast out devils and heal the sick is on the Mount, not yet 
understanding ' that he had ascended into heaven, not having 
yet received the power to cast out devils. This great painting, 
scarcely finished at the time of his death, was carried in the 
funeral procession. 

The Madonna de Foligno, by Raphael, is another of this 
artist's best works, and with the one just mentioned and St. 
Jerome's last communion, would enrich any gallery. Raphael 
was induced to paint this work for the convent at Foligno, by 
Sigismund, secretary of Julius II., and for[^many years it was so 
piously guarded, that it could but seldom be seen by visitors, 
was indeed held in this convent among these simple-hearted, 
pious nuns, who saw in the sweet, lovely countenance of this 
Madonna a ready answer to their prayers, as a fetich, an idol 
or object of worship. It was carried by Napoleon to Paris, 
but returned with other spoils in 1815. In the upper part ot 
the picture fne Madonna is seated on the clouds with the Child 
on her knee ; she is gracefully clothed in a sky-blue mantle, 
and surrounded by a glory, with a multitude of angelshovering 
around. Below are saints. In the distance is the city of 
Foligna, over which a bomb or thunderbolt is seen to fall in a 
graceful parabolic curve on the convent, without, however, 
doing it damage. It is one of those beautiful pictures we are 



156 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

loth to leave, and on looking at our watch, we found we had 
lingered here much longer than we had supposed. 

Coronation of the Virgin, painted by Raphael in fresco. It 
has been cleverly transferred to canvas. 

The Spanish school has a few good paintings, a St. Cath- 
erine, of Alexandria, by Bartolomeo Stefano Murillo, is doubt- 
less a good work, but were it by some obscure author instead 
of the great Spanish painter Murillo, I doubt whether it would 
attract special attention. There are several other paintings 
by Murillo, but none of them eqiml to other paintings by this 
author we have seen. 

The Venetian school is well represented. A St. Sebastian, 
by Titian, is a beautiful picture by this great master of colors. 
That is, it would be fine if St. Sebastian were left out. 
Every painter here in Italy, except Fra Angelico and Raphael, 
seems to have had a mania for painting St. Sebastian and 
sticking as many arrows in his carcass as possible, conse- 
quently St. Sebastians, bristling with arrows, meet us in every 
public gallery, pursue us to the churches and stare at us in 
frescoes from side walls of chapels and convent cells. It is 
always, no matter how artistic, a most abominable, disgusting, 
unnatural picture, and could only have had its monstrous 
creation in the diseased imagination of some cloistered monk. 
St. Helena, by Paul Veronese, is a fine picture of a beautiful 
Empress. This is the Empress saint, who, in a dream, had 
the spot indicated where the True Cross was buried. Conse- 
quently we are glad to make her acquaintance, as we are 
especially indebted to her for the discovery of this valuable 
relic. 

THE VATICAN FRESCOES. 

We enter the Apostolic Palace at the extremity of the long 
colonnade to the right of St. Peter's Cathedral, mounting to the 
bronze gate by a long flight of travertine steps ; two angels 



ROME. 157 

are placed on the architrave. Passing through several halls 
adorned with mosaics and costly sculpture, bronzes and paint- 
ings, we mount other flights of steps, pass through other rooms 
of paintings and frescoes, when, mounting other steps, some 
300 in all, we enter into the Sistine Chapel, into the stupen- 
dous, awful presence of the greatest triumph of human genius 
— Michael Angelo's frescoes. This great hall, ceiling and 
sides, is adorned by, covered with, these immortal produc- 
tions of, perhaps, the most remarkably gifted man of his or 
any other age. These frescoes constitute a study that might 
engage us for years — have, indeed, been so studied by thou- 
sands ; but, like the starry heavens above, awe, entrance us 
without inspiring even the most gifted with the hope of being 
able to successfully imitate them. This great man, whose 
Moses and David had placed him as the greatest sculptor, as 
had his able defence of Florence against the combined armies 
of Spain and Germany shown him to be the greatest engineer 
of the world, had, by his wondrous battle-piece painted for the 
city of Florence, attracted the attention of the strong-minded, 
self-willed, art-fostering, splendor-loving Pope Julien II., by 
whom he was ordered to Rome to paint this chapel. In vain 
Michael Angelo pleaded that he was not a painter — especially 
not difresca painter, and therefore unequal to the work. For- 
tunately, however, Pope Julien was inexorable, and as Popes 
in that day had to be obeyed, Michael Angelo went back to 
Florence, studied better the manner of mixmg paincs and pre- 
paring the walls for frescoes, and doggedly, sullenly, returned 
to Rome to perform this wondrous work which occupied most 
of the remaining period of his life. But then he could not 
have been more usefully engaged, as he here accomplished 
work that gives him a bright immortality, and has been, and 
is, and is to "be for ages yet to come, the delight, wonder and 
instruction of all men. 



158 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

In this stupendous work we scarcely know which most to 
admire, the ahnost superhuman brain that conceived, invented 
and blended into a wondrous whole, the strangely cunning 
hand that executed, or the human endurance that performed 
the mechanical labor of such a work. This work, while not 
more beautiful, perhaps not so beautiful as that in the next 
room, the Loggia of Raphael, impresses us quite differently. 
Raphael's Loggia wins us by the harmony, the symmetry of 
its easy, graceful beauty, much as we are impressed by a sur- 
passingly beautiful, smiling landscape ; the quiet loveliness of 
a transparent lake, lighted by the silver sheen of a rising moon, 
or the light, floating clouds of a summer sky, tinted by the 
golden glories of a setting sun, while this fills us with feelings 
of awe, as the very nature of the work breathes, speaks, thun- 
ders the titanic struggle of heart and brain of him who wrought 
it, the breath of volcanic forges, the earthquake shock that 
levels mountains, raises valleys, overwhelms cities — the dark- 
ening storm king that laughs at the puny works of man, swal- 
lowing whole navies as if in very sport, the thunderbolts of 
Jove, in his battle with the giants, that shake earth, air and 
heaven, are seen, heard and felt in the presence of this mighty 
work of human brain and hands. God the Almighty, Christ, 
angels, prophets, sybils, saints and sinners, men and devils, 
snakes, vultures and sea-monsters appear in awful grandeur, 
or rave and storm m fearful fury as in the birth of worlds ; the 
driving away of darkness and creation of light, the fall of man, 
the wreck of matter. We are lashed and storm-tossed with 
more than cyclonic fury until the brain reels and the heart 
beats with fiery whirlpooFs force — would gladly no longer see 
it and close our eyes. The picture is only turned in upon the 
brain, to burn with greater force. Would we flee its presence 
and forget it ? Let him do so who can. 

The whole ceiling and three sides of the wall are covered 



ROME, 159 

with figures embracing the Old Testament history, together 
with heathen mythology, gods and demi-gods, giants and 
heroes mixed up with patriarchs, priests, sybils and prophets, 
a vast surging mass, where all is motion — no rest is seen in 
even the most tranquil pictures, the motion is everywhere, 
tangible, vivid. 

Turn now to the fourth wall upon our right ; this is the Last 
Judgment, and the crowning glory of this great work. Upon 
the right of the throne are those saved, or to be saved, cHmb- 
ing, pressing, hurrying up, some quite at the top, seated, with 
happy, serene, smiling faces? No, not quite so ; there was no 
placid, happy nature in the storm-tossed soul of Michael 
Angelo, and consequently could not be in his pictures — no, 
not even in heaven. In the midst of the upper part of the 
scene stands the half-pleading, half-despairing Virgin, while 
standing near her left hand is Christ, with an angry, threaten- 
ing mien, as, with Divine wrath. He drives the damned over 
the battlements of heaven, from whence, in their headlong 
plunge, with writhing torture and dismay in every look, they 
are chased, scourged and driven by frightful devils into the 
nethermost hell. But even here they are not hidden from the 
angry glances of an offended, angry Christ, from whose divine 
wrath men and devils, even in hell, are, with horror, struggling 
to flee away, and, with movements tangible and voices audible, 
are hiding behind and calling the trembling, smoking, burning 
mountains to fall upon and cover them from the consuming 
wrath of an angry Christ. 

Well, this is wondrous strange ! Who but Michael Angelo 
would have, could have, successfully thus portrayed the meek 
and lowly Jesus ! Perhaps the hint was given the painter in 
the thought that some very meek and humble men had made 
violent, stormy popes. Possibly, too, the knowledge of this 
peculiarity in his own history made the painting the more 



l6o SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

tolerant, if, indeed, not positively pleasing, to Paul III., whose 
metamorphosis in this respect was quite notable. But the great 
painter, whose storm-tossed soul had now long been chafed 
beyond endurance, grew even more stormy in his ceihng 
painting. Ji-ilien II., who now was old and childish, was natur- 
ally anxious to see the great work before he died, had the 
scaffolding taken down ere the work was quite finished in order 
that he might the better see it, regardless of the inconvenience 
this caused Michael Angelo's storm-darkening soul. This art- 
loving Pope beheld the wondrous work with great joy and in 
the presence of a great assembly of notables, solemnly pro- 
nounced it good and blessed it. Pope Julien II. died and had 
been succeeded by other Popes to Paul III., who, without the 
culture or taste of Julien II., found fault with the nude figures 
and, through his secretary. Cardinal Cerena, constantly annoyed 
Michael Angelo by insisting upon his clothing his figures. To 
all these annoyances Michael Angelo replied that when nature 
improved in this respect he might do so. The Avork went on, 
partaking more and more of the stormy nature of the fretted 
painter's mind. At last, after many years and when the 
painter had grown old, it was completed and the scaffolding 
removed, when lo ! in the right hand corner of hell, with long 
asses' ears, was the officious cardinal, who, in great distress and 
alarm at finding himself in hell, and thus characterized, fled to 
the Pope, begging him to have the painter remove him from 
such a place and such company. The Pope, amused at his 
secretary's distress, asked him "where Michael Angelo had 
placed him?" "In hell, please your holiness, in hell?" Well, 
the Pope told him he regretted the place he was in ; had he 
been in purgatory he would willingly have removed him, but as 
he was in hell he must stay there, as he had no power over 
hell ; and there the officious cardinal is to the present day. 
x\t the bottom of the picture is the river Styx, across which 



ROME. l6l 

old Charon, with grim visage, is busy rowing lost souls. He 
has just arrived with a boat-load on the opposite shore, where 
his passengers, frightened at the dismal caverns, hghted up 
with a lurid, sulphurous glare, and into which they are to enter, 
vainly wish to linger in the boat ; but it is a busy day and the 
ferrymen has no time to waste — has seized an oar and is driv- 
ing the affrighted inmates over the bow of the boat, where 
devils seize them and drag them into the dismal caverns. 
Well, I am sure that the painter has satisfied the most callous, 
who look on the picture, that hell is a good place to stay away 
from. 

The Capitoline Hill, in the ruins of which are mouldering tab- 
lets that concern much of the world's history. Upon this hill 
was the ancient Capitol and Temple of Jupiter, in which sat 
enthroned the authority and power, not alone of Rome, but the 
world. But now for a thousand years this Temple of Rome's 
mighty god, Jupiter, like the power of Rome itself, has been 
shattered to fragments, mouldering ruins, in whose heaps no 
image of temple is seen. A small church now stands upon 
the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter. Even the Tarpean Rock 
down which prisoners were once cast, has had its high wall 
■gnawed down by the tooth of time, and its base so lifted by 
the gathered debris of ages, that it could no longer be used 
for this purpose. We ascend the hill eitner by a flight of 
broad steps or by carriage way, to the great square upon the 
summit, where there is a statue of Marcus Aurelius, the finest 
equestrian statue in the world. During the time of the residence 
of the Popes at Avignon, the population of Rome had become so 
reduced that the Capitoline Hill was a grazing field for sheep 
and goats. Some wolves are kept in a cave near the sum- 
mit; wolves of course have always been sacred animals at 
Rome since a she-wolf was foster-mother to the founder of the 
city. Deep down in the tufa rock, beneath the debris of the 



1 62 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

(lapitol, was a cavern in which former prisoners of State were 
kept, among whom was St. Paul. We descended to the bot- 
tom of this ancient jn-ison by a long flight of steps, a dark, 
gloomy, dismal vault, where no ray of light penetrated, to the cell 
which we were assured was the one once occupied by St. Paul 
and St. Peter, and had pointed out the small pool where St. 
Paul baptized the jailor and his household. Now while not 
hurt with credulity, and taking most things related by guides 
cum grano sails, we know of no reason why St. Paul may not 
have been here, and as it is quite pleasant to believe these 
things, we were prepared to believe anything told us concern- 
ing St. Paul. On the spot where the Temple of Jupiter once 
stood, is now the Church of St. Maria in Aracoeli. It was 
while sitting upon the steps of this church, observing a proces- 
sion of bare-footed friars, that Gibbon conceived the idea of 
writing the " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." In this 
church is seen the Sante Bambino, which is held as the princi- 
pal treasure of the church, and is shown as the Infant Jesus, and 
rented out to the Romans when sick. One foot or leg is 
shoiter than the other, and we are gravely told by the church 
custodian, a priest, showing it, that a sick Roman lady having 
procured the Bambino (child), determined to keep it, and had an- 
other made like it which she sent back to the church, and the 
fraud was not detected until in the night a loud noise with 
some one kicking at the door was heard. On opening the 
door, behold ! it was the Bambino who had left the house 
where he had been fraudulently kept, and came back to his 
church. His much kicking at the door had shortened his leg. 
This thing is sent out to administer to the sick and afflicted, 
herein Rome, in great state, and when it passes in its carriage 
along the street the people kneel — and yet we are sending 
missionaries to China! 

The Capitoline Museum contains an extensive collection of 



ROME. 163 

ancient art treasures, statues of gods, goddesses, heroes and 
emperors, sarcophagi, etc. The room of the Dying Gladiator, 
contains this beautiful statue. A dying gladiator, with a wound 
in his side, his sands of life fast running to their finish, is sitting 
on his shield, supporting himself with his hand on the ground, 
where he is soon to fall, with thoughts on his far-off home, with 
visions of wife and children, as cradled in the great world they 
are unsteadily swinging, before him. His head is dizzy now, his 
pulses faint, his last battle fought, the last sounds of the ap- 
plauding crowd have died away as the world recedes from 
sight and his spirit hastens back to the forest-fireside to hover 
around loved ones. It is a wonderfully expressive, pathetic 
statue. Other fine statues, Antinous, Alexander the Great, a 
Satyr by Praxiteles (Hawthorn's Marble Faun,) a girl protecting 
some doves. Satyr in Rosso Antico , Socrates, Diogenes, 
Hippocrates, and multitudes of other statues. In another 
room is a beautiful mosaic on the wall, Doves at a Fountain. 
In another room is the beautiful Capitoline Venus, by Praxi- 
teles. No one visiting Rome should fail to see this beautiful 
statue. Cupid and Psyche. All Greek works of great beauty. 
It were idle to attempt an enumeration of even the most 
beautiful of this wonderful collection, which of itself would well 
repay a visit to Rome. We must not, however, omit to men- 
tion the lightning-scarred historic she-wolf, in bronze, nursing 
Romulus and Remus, erected by pious Rome in B. C. 296, in 
grateful remembrance of the kindly care this animal gave the 
founders of the city. 

PALATINE HILL. 

Across a depression, once a marsh, is the Palatine Hill, upon 
which the imperial palaces once stood. The palace of Cce- 
sar and Nero's golden palace are all ruins now. audit is only of 
late that excavations have revealed the foundations of these 
mighty edifices whose possessors governed the world. Between 



164 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

these hills was the Forum, the most historic spot on earth. It 
was here all popular assemblies met, here was determined the 
fate of nations^of the world. It was here Cicero delivered 
those classic orations, the delight and instruction of all sub- 
sequent time, and it was here, after the assassination of Caesar, 
that Mark Antony delivered his marvelous oration that so 
stirred the assembled Roman people that they voted divine 
honors to the murdered Caesar, and drove his assassins into 
exile. But this place, so hallowed by memories, so adorned 
by art, like Rome and the world itself, was obscured by the 
destruction of the Roman Empire, then lost beneath the ac- 
cumulated debris of ages, and it is only during the present 
century that its outlines are again produced, and this has been 
done by removing forty feet of debris, as this was the height 
to which the surface level between the Capitoline and Palatine 
Hills had been raised by the wear and tear of more than a 
thousand years of ruin and neglect. The Forum was an open 
court, 612 feet long and 117 feet wide, enclosed by beautiful 
palaces, temples, etc., and adorned with the most beautiful 
marble columns, statues, etc. In these excavations many 
works of great value, now in the Capitoline Museum, have 
been found, which, thanks to the accumulated debris which hid 
them, escaped the Christian Vandalism which has done more 
to destroy ancient Rome and the immortal works of art collect- 
ed here, than Goth, Frank and Vandal invasions ever did. 
And if we condemn the Moslems for heating their baths by 
burning the books of the Alexandrine library, what must we 
think of those who wantonly mutilated the finest works of 
human genius because they reminded them of the religion 
that built up Rome and made her the mistress and Hght of 
the world, or of popes, priests, nobility and people who broke 
up the most beautiful columns, or tore down artistic temples to 
erect uncouth churches, feudal castles or prop falling convent 



ROME. 165 

walls, or broke up the most beautiful friezes of temples, statues 
of gods and heroes, the most beautiful productions of human 
genius, to feed the lime-kilns and form mortar for the building 
of blind walls and stables, and yet this was engaged in by 
popes, nobles, priests and people for more than half a thousand 
years. Let us then instead of indulging in vain regrets at 
the absence of so much we should meet with here, and at 
the almost sacrilegious desecration we everywhere meet with, 
rather rejoice that indolence, conflagration, ignorance, riots, 
earthquake shock, falling castles and Tiber inundations, by 
concealing from view through a thousand years of benighted 
vandalism, have left us so much. 

THE COLOSSEUM. 

Not far from the Forum, in the centre of Rome, stands the 
mighty ruins of the world's wonder, the Colosseum, 1,400 feet 
in circumference and 150 feet in height, erected by Titus, 
A. D. 70-80, after the conquest of Jerusalem, and by the labor 
of the captive Jews, a vast multitude of whom, as was the 
custom, were brought back with the captor as spoils of war, 
and employed here on public works. 

This amphitheatre, unparalleled in its magnitude, would ac- 
commodate 100,000 spectators, was four stories high, including 
the three known orders of architecture, and must have been, 
when perfect, as shown now in the portion standing, of great 
beauty. The first story is Doric and thirty feet high, the 
second is Ionic, forty feet high, the third story Corinthian, 
forty feet high, and the fourth or upper story also Corinthian, 
forty-four feet high. 

It was, as all the world knows, used for the sports in which 
this warlike people most delighted, gladiatorial combats, in 
which champion captives fought to the death, combats between 
gladiators and wild beasts, in which lions, tigers, and other 
fierce and savage beasts, turned loose from their dens under 



1 66 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

the lower benches of the amphitheatre, sprang upon the 
gladiator, who, armed with spear or sword and shield, joined 
in deadly combat, as others of his comrades had with their 
fellow-captives. Often the monstrous lion or tiger instantly 
killed one or many gladiators and tore them to pieces amidst 
the wild plaudits of the assembled tens of thousands of de- 
hghted men and women, but not unfrequently the lion or 
tiger or other wild beast was slain by the man. We may sup- 
pose either result was equally acceptable to the crowd of human 
beasts that watched the combat. At the opening or dedica- 
tion of this amphitheatre in A. D. 80, which lasted 100 days, 
5,000 animals were killed ; all the killing or fighting, however, 
was not done by men, as frequently several or many fierce 
lions and tigers, with elephants or other animals, were turned 
loose into the arena where they joined in mortal combat with 
all the destructive fury of their untamed natures, reproducing, 
greatly to the delight of the citizens, here in the heart of 
Rome all the wild terrors of an African forest or Indian jungle. 
During the persecutions of the Christians under Nero and 
other emperors, many Christians constituted the human victims 
offered up in these savage sports. In the early part of the 
fifth century gladiatorial combats were forbidden as abhorrent 
to the precepts of Christianity, but combats with wild beasts 
were continued until the sixth century, when, from many and 
overwhelming disasters, Rome was tottering to its fall, these 
shows ceased, and the Colosseum like Rome herself fell into 
decay, a decay over which the shrouded ghosts of night spread 
their black wings through the long dark night of ages, dunng 
which this indestructible strncture that trembled only as the 
world trembled at the earthquake shock, and that laughed at 
the fierce thunderbolt, at storms and flood, and bid defiance to 
the corroding tooth of time, was itself destroyed. 

The outlines of this structure with its beautiful exterior col- 



ROME. 167 

umns, its endless rows of benches, its floor and ground plan 
with the caves in which the wild beasts were kept, are very 
clearly seen and traced, although not a third is left standing, 
and even this has had much of its finer stone removed for the 
construction of less-sacred edifices. It should be seen and 
studied by daylight, but is most beautiful as seen by the softer, 
kindlier rays of the full-orbed moon, as this beautiful soul- 
stirring, massive ruin, like a city belle, blushes to be seen in 
her faded complexion and tattered garments by the strong 
light of day. I loved — and who would not — to sit among these 
mighty ruins and read the history of eighteen hundred years, as 
stereotyped in their battle-scarred, time-worn masses that had 
witnessed this march of ages, and, but for the vandalism of be- 
nighted man, might have witnessed the funeral dirges of time 
itself. 

Near the Colosseum is the Triumphal Arch of Titus, one of 
the most beautiful things time and vandaHsm has left in Rome, 
and much the most beautiful triumphal arch in the world. It 
was erected to Titus, conqueror of Jerusalem. On its beauti- 
ful irieze is a sacrificial procession with Titus mounted on a 
triumphal car driven by Roma, with a mighty multitude of 
captive Jews. The contents of the Holy of Holies, the table of 
the shew-bread and the seven-branched golden candlestick were 
carried in the procession. We may with difficulty imagine 
what a revelation and shock this must have been to the captive 
Jews who had ever been taught to believe these things, stored 
away within the innermost sanctuary of their temple, were 
under Divine protection, now irreverently seized and carried 
along as spoils of war, and placed as offerings to Rome's god 
in his temple, the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. 

Visited St. Paul's outside the wails of the city, and the Three 
Fountains, two miles farther out of the city. We passed out of 
the city through the Porta St. Paolo, the most picturesque gate 



1 68 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of the city, consisting of a double gateway, the outer one by 
Theodoric, the inner by Claudius, flanked by towers. Some 
half mile out on the road we passed the small chapel of Saints 
Peter and Paul, built, we are told, on the spot where these two 
saints parted on their way to martyrdom. Over the arch of 
the chapel is a Latin inscription, giving their brave but tender 
words at parting. Paul said to Peter, "Peace be with thee, 
foundation of the Church, shepherd of the flock of Christ." 
And Peter said to Paul, "Go in peace, preacher of glad-tidings 
and guide to the salvation of the just," Some half mile farther 
on is the church of St. Paul. This is the handsomest church 
in or about Rome. Before the Reformation it was under the 
protection of England, was lately burned down and the new 
church first opened by Pio Nono in 1854. It is a basilica with 
the wide nave divided from the aisles by forty lofty, massive, 
graceful Corinthian columns of marble on either side. I 
stepped the vast length of the nave, 132 yards, and 74 yards 
in breadth across the nave and aisles. The interior is a marble 
palace, from the polished surface of walls, pillars, altars and pave- 
ment of which flashed the mirrored image of the interior of the 
church. The grand triumphal arch is a relic of the old church, 
and the Byzantine mosaic, Christ and the Twenty-four Elders, 
is one of the oldest of these church mosaics, being of the 
fifth century. Fine marble statues of St. Peter and St. Paul 
adorn the sides, while portraits of all the popes, beginning at 
St. Peter, form a continuous mosaic around the church above 
the columns. The gorgeous altar is supported by four pillars 
of oriental alabaster, translucent, given for this church, strange 
to say, by Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt. A marble chapel 
beneath the altar, reached by a marble staircase, in which a 
lamp is kept constantly burning, contains the bodies of the 
martyrs, Saints Paul and Timothy. The resplendent malachite 
altars at the ends of the transept were given by the Czar of 



ROME. 169 

Russia. A costly and elaborate alabaster candelabra sheds by- 
night its soft light upon the beautifully-painted windows. The 
mosaics on the beautiful facade facing the Tiber are not more 
elaborate than beautiful. As seen from the ground they appear 
as beautiful as fresco paintings. They represent Christ with 
Saints Peter and Paul, with four prophets, also symbolic scenes 
from the New Testament. The entire structure is most beau- 
tiful, and the most Christian-like basilica church in all the 
world. Leaving this church and continuing out on the road, 
we arrived at the Tre Fontane, Three Fountains, which sprung 
up at the place where St. Paul was beheaded. When the 
severed head fell to the ground it made three leaps, and at 
each place where it touched the ground a fountain sprung up 
which continues to the present day(?). 

SAN PIETRO IN MONTORIO. 

Feb. 2nd. — The weather having greatly moderated, being 
spring-like, we made a pleasant drive to the church of St. 
Pietro in Montorio and the villa Pamphili Doria. Passing out 
at the Porta Settimiana, we ascended the hill along the via 
Garibaldi to the church, which is situated on a lofty eminence 
commanding a fine view of the city and the Tiber as it winds 
through the city and adjacent campagna. Rome is seen as 
on a map at our feet, its palaces, lofty spires and towers rising 
from almost every square. Towering high above, and in 
majestic grandeur, far surpassing all others with its cloud- 
piercing dome, is St. Peter's Cathedral. The immense magni- 
tude of this structure can scarcely be appreciated when in or 
near it, because we have only itself to compare it to, but from 
here it is seen in all its greatness, and, by comparing it to the 
city, we readily see that it is an important factor, if to it other 
churches dwindle to cabins. The long line of walls 
enclosing the city with their several gates, twelve or fifteen in 
number, are beautifully seen from this point. These walls 



lyo SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

were built by Aurelian, and though added to and strengthened 
at different times, are substantially the same that have sur- 
rounded the city for i,8oo years. They are some thirty feet 
high and of great thickness, and must have been a most 
formidable obstruction against attacking Gaul, Vandal, Goth, 
Lombard and Spaniard, and yet by all of these stormed and the 
city taken. 

This church of St. Pietro was erected by Ferdinand and 
Isabella of Spain, and is yet, I believe, under the control of 
Spain. In the court of the monastery over one of the spots on 
which the cross upon which St. Peter was crucified stood, is 
a small round temple with sixteen Doric marble columns, in 
which is a bas relief with St. Peter hanging to a cross, head 
downwards — we are told here that the saint preferred this 
position. But what is even more convincing and even touch- 
ing, is a small hole or well in the pavement, into which the 
blood of St. Peter ran, coloring the sand which it continues to 
do to the present day. To satisfy us of this fact the kind-hearted 
monk who was showing us these things, passed down a small 
tin tube which brought up a spoonful or more of the blood- 
stained sand, which we accepted as proof positive and took the 
sand to show to anyone who should doubt the thing, not for- 
getting to reward him for his attentions. Over this small well, 
very properly, a lamp is kept burning. In the church are 
some good paintings, and the tomb of the unhappy, unfortu- 
nate, beautiful Beatrice Cenci, whose tragic taking-off has 
filled the world with her name, as has her portrait with the 
glamor of her great beauty. Who does not recall her divinely- 
beautiful, sweet, sad, face? 

Ascending the hill, we pass the Pauline Fountain, built out 
of the ruins of the temple of Minerva and supplied with water 
brought thirty-five miles by the Aqua Trajana, built i,8oo 
years ago. Beyond this are the beautiful grounds of the villa 



ROME. 171 

Pamphili. Nothing can exceed the beauty of these grounds, 
with their statuary, lakes, fountains and gardens and trimmed 
hedges. A columbaria. hvX recently discovered and conse- 
quently in a good state of preservation, gives additional inter- 
est to the place. The walls of this columbaria are pierced 
with numerous small niches or appertures, in each of which is 
a small terra cotta urn with ashes and bones, just as they 
were placed here 2,000 years ago. Numerous frescoes cover 
the walls, and with colors still quite fresh. 

VILLA BORGHESE. 

This beautiful villa and grounds are situated a mile outside 
the city walls. After driving through the extensive grounds 
highly ornamented with grottoes, antique statues, old ruins 
with Doric columns and broken arches, we come to the Casino. 
It has long belonged to the Borghese family and formerly con- 
tained the finest art museum in Europe, which was purchased 
by Napoleon L, whose beautiful sister married Prince Borghese 
and whose full-sized statue as a reclining Venus m Carrara 
marble, by Canova, is one of the most beautiful statues of 
modern times. 

vatIcan palace frescoes. 

Raphael' s Stanze. — These wondrous frescoes adorn four 
rooms of the palace that were used for the consistories and 
papal congregations. Leo X., had caused several of them to 
be frescoed by distinguished painters, but the art-loving Pope, 
Julius II., who was not less remarkable for his supreme taste 
in the fine arts than for his great ability as head of the Church, 
ordered Raphael, whose reputation had now spread throughout 
Italy, from Florence to Rome, to complete the frescoes, but 
after Raphael had made his first fresco, so far did it surpass 
those of the other great masters that Julius ordered all the 
frescoes erased, that Raphael might paint them anew. This 
order was rigidly enforced except in a few instances. Raphael 



172 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

had them spare a work of his former preceptor, Perugino. At 
this time Pope Julius had summoned to Rome the great artists 
of the world, so that at the same time there were at work in 
and upon the Vatican palace, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da 
Vinci and Raphael, while Bramante, no less distinguished as 
an architect, was at work upon St. Peter's. Here, in 1508, in 
the twenty-fifth year of his age, this greatest of the world's 
great painters commenced his wondrous task of ornamenting 
these four great halls, a work on which he was almost con- 
stantly engaged for twelve years, or up to the time of his 
untimely death, at 37 years of age, in 1520, killed by over- 
work. It would be difficult to overestimate the loss the world 
sustained in the early death of this immortal genius, whose 
inspirations were in beautiful harmony with the purity and 
gentleness of his short life. In him the Roman school attained 
its chief glory, and all Rome was appalled by his death and 
attended en masse his funeral, which was conducted in all the 
pomp and glory the Pope and Church could give a Prince. 
His remains were carried to and deposited in the most fitting 
mausoleum even his artistic genius could have conceived — the 
Pantheon. His last great work, upon which he was engaged 
at the time of his death. The transfiguration, was carried as 
a fitting banner in the funeral procession. 

The great frescoes in the Stanze are known as the Disputa- 
tion, the School at Athens, the Jurisprudence, the Parnassus, 
the Expulsion of Attila, the Liberation of St. Peter from 
Prison, the Fire in the Borgia Palace, with many other smaller 
works. There are hundreds of figures painted in these great 
frescoes, and yet none not perfect. 

The Ghetto. — This, the Jewish quarters of the city, is a low, 
flat surface, near the banks of the Tiber, and subject to inunda- 
tion. Was so named as meaning the dispersed. In this crowd- 
ed ill-ventilated place, this unfortunate people were compelled 



ROME. 173 

to live, deprived of nearly every means of living, and subjected 
to every humiliation and extortion that the diabolical ingenu- 
ity of their Christian tormentors could devise. They were not 
permitted to own property or do business in any other part of 
the city, and even in this the narrow streets were closed by 
gates. They were forbidden to be out of doors after sunset ; 
were compelled to wear yellow hats and veils ; to furnish the 
money to buy the prizes offered at the races of the Carnival, 
at which they were not permitted to be present ; were compelled 
to assemble once a week to listen to a sermon from a priest, 
in which their sacred laws and ceremonies were villiiied, and for 
this they were compelled to pay the preacher ; forced to com- 
plete their tile of brick without either straw or clay ; for a 
thousand years subjected to a slavery, compared to which the 
400 years of their fathers' slavery in Egypt were a holi- 
day, and yet they lived and made money. The history of 
this unfortunate people is the most remarkable of any of the 
human race, and their torments and persecutions by a Church 
whose patron saint was, and is, a very Jew, is the most incom- 
prehensible aberration of the human mind. Well, a day of 
deliverance came, and united Italy knows no distinction as cit- 
izens between a Jew and a Christian. So mote it be ! 

THE COLUMBARIA. 

The Catacombs are situated around, not in or under, Rome, 
as has been stated. Those we visited were out on the Via 
Appia. In company with our archaeological guide. Prof. 
Forbes, we passed out of the old walls of the city through the 
Porta Appia ^ where Horatius, after his victory — in which all 
three of the Curatii and two of the Horatii were slain — return- 
ing as the proud victor, and only survivor, of the six champions 
who had joined, that day, in deadly combat, met here his sis- 
ter, who, on seeing on him the garlands she had woven for 
her affianced, now one of the dead Curatii, bewailed the death 



174 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of her betrothed, blaming her brother for killing him. This 
unexpected reception so enraged the victor, that he marred his 
glory by killing his sister. A monument was reared upon the 
spot where she fell. The brutal brother, on account of the 
great victory he had gained for Rome, was not beheaded. Yet 
pious Rome could not permit so great a crime to go unpun- 
ished, and he was made to pass under the yoke. Crossing the 
brook Almo, we pass the little round church of St. Giovano in 
Oleo, St. John in oil, built upon the spot where we are informed 
St. John was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil and came out 
uninjured. Near this church is a lofty concrete tomb B. C. 
242. Near this is the columbaria of Caesar's officers and 
household. These columbaria (especially this one) have an 
interest only second to the Catacombs. And that those who 
have not seen the latter may be the better enabled to under- 
stand these structures, we shall describe them here. A col- 
umbaria, like the Catacombs, is a burial place, and like them, 
underground chambers in which the urns containing the sacred 
ashes, after the body had been cremated, were placed in niches 
shaped like a dove's nest, hence the name columbaria. They 
consist, sometimes, of a single room, say twenty or thirty feet 
high or deep, dug out of the solid, but soft, tufa rock, lava, and 
twenty to thirty feet square, with pigeon-holes in the sides to 
hold the urns containing the ashes after cremation of the body. 
These urns were closed with a well-fitting moveable lid — some- 
times the lid, or top, was fastened on the urn — then it was 
pierced with a small aperture through which was poured warm 
sacred aromatic oil upon the revered ashes below. Most com- 
monly only one urn is in a pigeon-hole, but not unfrequently 
two are placed in the same niche. A lamp was now placed by 
the urn. This was kept burning by the sexton or priest, whose 
business it was to watch over these sacred urns, and to keep 
the lamp filled and burning, for perhaps hundreds of years. 



ROME. 



175 



This columbaria of Caesar's officers and household, in order to 
increase its capacity, had left in the center a solid portion, or 
square pillar, the sides of which, like those of the main cham- 
bers, were pierced with numerous small apertures containing 
funeral urns. By means of this construction, and its great 
size, this columbaria had its capacity so greatly extended that 
it contained, perhaps, thousands of urns. All these were 
marked by small marble slabs, inserted in the wall below the 
niche, with the name of those whose ashes were in the niche 
inscribed apon it. Sometimes the age or social condition of 
the person was named. 

These urns, where they had not been disturbed, contained 
the ashes just as they did when placed here 2,000 years ago. 
Some beautiful and significant frescoes are on the walls. I 
notice that of a beautifully-executed peacock, emblem of im- 
mortality, while two doves, emblems of innocence and purity,, 
with other like significant emblems, were on another wall. 
The same emblems of less beautiful workmanship constantly 
recur in the Catacombs. By all these we learn, if indeed we 
did not know the facts otherwise, that these pagans believed in 
the immortality of the soul, and that many of the rites and 
ceremonies associated with our religion are but borrowed from 
them; for instance, doves, so intimately associated with our re- 
ligious ideas, were associated with these tombs, while the lamps 
kept constantly burning on tombs in chapels, here in Christian 
Rome, are borrowed or continued from the funeral lamps in 
these columbaria. But what gives this columbaria of 
Caesar's household especial interest, and in the presence of 
which I felt the same awe and reverence felt in the Catacombs, 
is the names of persons mentioned by St. Paul as Christian 
converts belonging to Csesar's household. Now as these 
names are very uncommon among the Romans, some of them 
found nowhere else than in the writings of St. Paul and here. 



176 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

it is almost positively certain that these urns contain the ashes 
of those mentioned so fervently by Paul, and are fellow-Chris- 
tians belonging to the flock of this aposde, and among the 
first converts to Christianity in Rome. These ashes were 
placed here because they were buried by their pagan friends, 
relatives and fellow-servants of Caesar's family, and in accord- 
ance with pagan rites, their bodies were burned and their ashes 
placed here with that of their friends, and not buried in the 
Catacombs as would have been the case had they received 
Christian burial. We find the reverse of this beautifully-affec- 
tionate thought and act in the Catacombs, where we now and 
then find among the earliest Christian tombs those of a pagan, 
doubtless, though not of the same faith, a brother or friend, and 
buried here by his Christian family or friends instead of having 
his body cremated and his ashes placed in the cohiuibaria, as 
would have been done had he received pagan burial. But 
1,500 years and more have left but httle distinction between 
the ashes placed here and the bodies of their friends laid away 
in their winding-sheets in the Catacombs. All alike, long since, 
in most cases, are common dust. 

Near the gate is the triumphal arch of Drusus in a good 
state of preservation. We now come to the Porta Appia 
opening out through the Aurelian walls onto the great highway, 
the Via Appia. A Byzantine fresco painting of the Madonna, 
sixth century, is under the arch of the wall at this place. 
Passing out of the walls and descending the Hill of Mars, we 
pass a num.ber of once-splendid tombs, now heaps of rubbish. 
We are fairly out of the city on the great Appian Way. 

THE VIA APPIA. 

This great highway, which gives us an excellent idea of 
Roman military roads, found everywhere in Europe, as well as 
the greatness of this wondrous peoj)le, is best described by 
Procopius in the sixth century. "It leads from Rome to 



ROME. 177 

Capua." (Afterwards extended to Brundusium, a seaport 
town on the Gulf of Naples.) "Its breadth is sufficient for two 
chariots to pass each other." (It is about twen ty feet in 
width.) "In constructing this great work Appius caused the 
materials to be brought from a great distance so as to have all 
the stones hard and of the nature of mill-stones, such as are 
not found in this part of the country. Having ordered this 
material to be smoothed and polished, the stones were cut in 
corresponding angles so as to bite together in jointures without 
the intervention of copper or other material to bind them, and 
in this manner they were so firmly united that on looking at 
them we would say they had not been put together by art but 
had grown so upon the spot. And notwithstanding the wear- 
ing of so many ages," (then 900 years, having been constructed 
by Appius Claudius in B. C. 312) "being traversed daily by a 
multitude of vehicles and all sorts of cattle, they still remain 
unmoved, nor can the least trace of ruin or waste be observed 
upon these stones, neither do they appear to have lost any of 
their beautiful polish." And we may add that now, after an 
additional wear and tear and waste of neglect of thirteen addi- 
tional centuries, this road is in many places in a good state of 
preservation. We drove out upon it eight or nine miles in 
carriages. This road has well been named. The Road of the 
Tombs, from the long line of once-splendid tombs, now in 
ruins, that line either side of the road, constituting a double 
line of tombs and mausoleums stretching out through the cam- 
pagna eight or ten miles from the city. 

After passing the ruins of many tombs and mausoleums, we 
came to 

THE CATACOMBS OF ST. CALIXTUS. 

These ancient burial-places of the early Christians are dark, 
narrow passages, hewn in the solid tufa rock or lava, some 
twenty feet in height and four to six wide, with the sides and 



178 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

floor at right angles to the roof. From these main passages 
there are others running off at right angles, and these areagam 
sometimes crossed by others, forming a complicated labyrinth 
of cross passages. 

This tufa is a very durable rock, hardening on exposure. 
Many of the buildings of Rome were of this material. The 
whole length of these subterranean passages around Rome, 
would, it is said, if placed in a straight line, be upwards of 500 
miles, and as they were the burial places of Christians for 
centuries, they contained more corpses than the city ever had in- 
habitants at any one time. There are some sixty of these 
catacombs around, not under, Rome. There are no catacombs 
in or under the city, as has been stated. The Christians first 
begun to form them and bury their dead here in the latter part 
of the second century, and continued to do so for six or eight 
centuries, and after Christianity became the recognized re- 
ligion of the empire, pagans were sometimes buried here, as 
shown by inscriptions and frescoes. These pagan frescoes are 
generally better executed and of a different style than those of 
the Christians. 

The catacombs of St. Calixtus are entered from a pagan 
tomb that looks like a small temple with Corinthian columns. 
This tomb doubtless belonged to some wealthy pagan family, 
who, on becoming Christians, gave it to their brethren. We 
descended from this tomb, which stands near the Via Appia, 
into the long, narrow passages of the catacomb, which occa- 
sionally opens out into a chamber, where was buried some 
bishop or saint, or some family of wealth or distinction. The 
wails on either side are honeycombed with niches or vaults, 
one above another, sometimes being as many as six or eight 
tiers, with one or two feet of the stone wall left between them. 
Some departments are exclusively for children, the niches being 
only two or three feet long, and not more than six or eight 



ROME. 179 

inches high. These horizontal vaults are of sufficient depth and 
width to admit the body, which was enclosed only in its wind- 
ing sheet, or shroud — no coffin of any kind being used. After 
the body was deposited, the aperture was carefully closed with 
a marble slab, which was securely plastered in, so that these 
vaults were sealed air tight, and the name of the person cut 
upon the slab enclosing the niche, and, as in the columbaria, a 
lamp was often placed in the niche, and as most of these early 
Christians were poor, for economical purposes, these slabs 
were often taken from pagan temples or tombs with other in- 
scriptions upon them. But these bodies, thus carefully and affec- 
tionately laid away in the rock everlasting to await the resur- 
rection, found in most cases quite a different one from that 
promised. First the Vandals and Goths who had been con- 
verted to Christianity, in their irruption into Rome, deeming 
all these bodies those of saints and martyrs, broke open the 
vaults and carried the bones back with them, where they were 
prized higher than gold — especially if the name of some well- 
known saint or martyr w^as attached to them by the vender — 
and sold to the churches of Transalpine Gaul, or to the pious, 
who placed these holy relics in their family burial-grounds to 
sanctify it. And again Holy Mother Church here in Rome, 
removed thousands of these bodies and placed them under the 
altars of their churches for the same purpose. One church 
heie in Rome tilted twenty-seven wagon-loads in a pit beneath 
its altar. In this way, as the bodies of saints and martyrs had 
an especial cash value to the vender, the list was made to em- 
brace many names unknown to heaven, and as these catacombs 
were the common burial-ground of Christian Rome, whose 
Christian public, to say the least, was no better then than now, 
it happened that the bones of many a publican and sinner 
found themselves suddenly transformed into those of a saint. 
But if these semi-barbarians and the Church w^re cheated by 



l8o SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

the trick, the devil most probably was not. Many others of 
these vaults were opened and their contents disturbed in quest 
of trinkets or other valuables, and others by that idle curiosity, 
which though rampant at the present day, has not been con- 
fined to it. So great has been this disturbance that but few of 
these vaults readily accessible are still closed or contain bones. 
We saw no bones. In one of the larger chambers we en- 
tered in this catacomb was deposited the body of St. Cecilia, 
after her martyrdom in A. D. 220. In 820, or 600 years after 
her burial by Pope Urban, it was removed by Pope Pascal I. 
to consecrate by its presence the church of St. Cecilia, wliere a 
beautiful statue of this saint is found. We are told that when 
this tomb was opened her body was found fresh and perfect 
as when it was first laid in the tomb, and clad in rich garments 
mixed with gold, with a roll of linen clothes stained with blood, 
found at her feet, and that this statue in the church of St. Ce- 
cilia was made by the sculptor from her corpse as it then ap- 
peared. This a beautiful and touching tale and deserves to 
be true, but as it has all human experience and reason against 
it, and only interested legends to establish it, we must be ex- 
cused for receiving it with a slight feeling of doubt. But the 
body of this saint was to be again disturbed. And when in 
1599 the Church was restored, the body was found by Cardinal 
Sprandrali (a most veritable witness) just as when it had been 
placed there more than 700 years before, or 1300 years after 
her burial, and we must suppose it still exists without change. 
But what is of real interest here in connection with this saint, is 
these frescoes on the wall above her tomb — a portrait of St. 
Cecilia — and on her right, Christ with a nimbus, on the left 
Pope Urban in full pontifical dress. Here we observe in the 
nimbus or glory that surrounds the head of Christ, a cross. 
But as this fresco is Byzantine in style, and known to be not 
earlier than the seventh century, it gives no support to the 



ROME. l8l 

worship of the cross or its emblematic importance, as all this 
is the invention of times long subsequent to the martyrdom of 
this incorruptible saint. In all the early Christian frescoes and 
paintings in this catacomb and elsewhere, the symbol of the 
cross never appears. In all their efforts to illustrate in these 
symbols their faith, the sign of the cross never appears — abso- 
lutely never. There is not, I beheve, in all Italy or elsewhere, 
the sign of the cross in connection with Christian rites and 
ceremonies of an earlier date than the fourth century, show- 
ing conclusively that this whole cross question is an invention 
of later times. How could it have been otherwise? and how 
could these early Christians in the simplicity of their faith have 
looked upon the cross otherwise than with horror, reminding 
them of the wickedness of the Jews in putting Jesus to this 
cruel and ignominious death ? The facts are as I state them, 
be the conclusions what they may. Farther on is the burial- 
chamber of a family, doubtless of wealth and influence. On its 
walls are rude, but intensely-interesting and highly-instructive 
frescoes — The Baptism of Christ in Jordan by John, in which 
Christ is standing in the water while the saint is pouring water 
on His head ; Jonah being swallowed and again thrown up by 
a monstrous half-serpent-like fish. This is unmistakably in- 
tended to show their belief in the resurrection of the body. 
Moses striking the rock, intended to symbolize the living waters 
that were given his flock by the blood of Christ ; the woman 
at the well of Samaria ; the paralytic man taking up his bed 
and walking with it on his shoulder — the bedstead is an iron 
one with a spring mattress ; doves, as we had seen in the 
pagan columbaria, emblems here, as there, of purity and inno- 
cence ; two pigeons, and the good shepherd with a lamb on 
his shoulder — this is the earliest and most constant symbol of 
these early Christians met with in these frescoes and paintings. 
These frescoes in this chamber are purely Christian, and by a 



152 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Christian artist of the second or third century, and though 
rude are a thousand tunes more touching, life-like, and instruct- 
ive than if by a skilled Greek or Byzantine artist, ist, because 
though rude they are Christian, by an unskilled native artist, 
and without conventionaHsm, are efforts to paint nature as it 
is, which lead to the brilliant triumph of the Renaissance. 
2nd, because in these constantly recurring efforts of untaught, 
native Christian artists, we have given the religious belief of 
these early Christians — endeavoring, learning, to symbolize 
their faith and hopes. The doves, the peacocks, Jonah and 
the fish, Moses striking the rock, the Good Shepherd and sheep, 
all symbolizing the Christian faith, and 3rd, the absence of 
the cross — teaching by its absence, that these early Christians 
had not yet learned to venerate it. 

THE FORMATION AND USES OF THE CATACOMBS. 

It has been thought and often stated that these early 
catacombs were quarries, from which stone was obtained for 
building purposes. Nothing could be more manifestly false. 
Why should anyone have pushed a stone-quarry along these 
long, dark, narrow passages, when they could have obtained 
the same stone with greatly less cost and labor from the front. 
That stone of this kind was obtained for building purposes 
from the readily-accessible quarries around Rome is shown by 
the condition of these quarries. It is quite likely that even 
the stone taken from these catacombs may have been sold for 
building purposes, thereby assisting to defray the expenses. It 
is true these catacombs sometimes commence at an old stone- 
quarry, but this was for economy. They were made for no 
other purpose than that for which they were used, the burial 
of the dead, and were constructed by an engineer at the least 
cost of time and labor, hence the narrow passages, just wide 
enough to admit a funeral procession to pass with the corpse, 
with an occasional large chamber or space in which some 



ROME. 1S3 

bkhop, saint, or otherwise distinguished or rich person was 
buried, and which were used on occasions as chapels, and 
where doubtless a few of the pious were often gathered, during 
times of great persecution, for prayer and exhortation, these 
being greatly protected here by the sanctity of burial places in 
the Roman laws. These cells and passages are dimly lighted 
from above by an occasional shaft sunk for this purpose. 
Immediately under or near these shafts, which are generally 
over a larger space or chamber, it is light enough to read by 
daylight, along the passages between them it is quite dark, so 
that we had to grope our way with lighted candles and torches. 
Another error more general is, that these catacombs were 
secret hiding-places, known only to the Christians, who fled to 
them as hiding-places in great numbers. Nothing is farther 
from the truth. They were it is true, obscure, out-of-the-way, 
quiet, secluded places, and that far secret, but known to all 
Rome quite as well as to the Christians themselves. How 
could it have been otherwise, when the mountains of stone 
removed in their excavation had to be placed outside by a 
people who had no means of hiding this debris, had it been 
possible otherwise? And then the daily funeral processions 
necessary to deposit these hundreds of thousands of corpses 
during two or three centuries of persecution forced a knowl- 
edge of their existence upon, not only the Roman authorities, 
but the entire Roman people. As stated, what really protected 
them was the sanctity of burial-places, protected by the Roman 
laws, which held all such places inviolable, inalienable, and 
while doubtless an individual or a few noted individuals most 
marked for slaughter did occasionally, during times of great 
danger, take shelter in these labyrinths until the more imme- 
diate danger had passed, being supported with bread and 
water by some of the faithful, that any considerable number 
at any one time could have done so, is simply impossible. 



184 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Another error promulgated concerning these catacombs is 
in regard to the number of martyrs they contained. This error 
has been published more from design than ignorance. That 
they did contain some who died for the faith is unquestionable, 
but the multitude buried here died /;/ but not /'6';' the fliith once 
delivered to the saints. But it answered a. purpose in "Books 
of ]Martyrs" and homilies, as the timid were more impressed 
by swelling the numbers, and perhaps made more devout, in 
an age of ignorance, by these frightful pictures of the seas of 
blood that had purified and watered the Church, and that too 
by those who had filled every Christian land with spies and 
informers, and many a dark and dismal dungeon with helpless, 
innocent Christian men and women, accused of heresy, that is, 
of doubting some Church dogma, while the God-inspired spirit 
of inquiry and the inalienable heritage of freedom of thought 
was crushed by the torture of fire and the rack, or drowned in 
a sea of innocent Christian blood. Even here in Italy many 
more Christians have been murdered by Christians than all the 
pagan emperors ever slaughtered. I saw the word martyr on 
a tomb in this catacomb only once, and our archaeological 
guide, who has explored these catacombs extensively and ex- 
amined them carefully says it occurs only some thirty times, 
and while this is no proof that only this number died for, or 
on account of their reHgion, it indicates very clearly that 
martyrdom did not belong to the multitude buried here, an in- 
dication clearly confirmed by abundant evidence. Yet there 
were martyrs, and in some instances their dust lies here, and 
many a vacant niche is consecrated by their former presence, 
together with thousands of others who would readily have 
suffered death for their faith, men and women who died that 
the world might be the better through the triumph of their 
faith, and it was bettered by their sublime sacrifice, as their 
blood like a mighty river broke down — swept away — masses 



ROME. 185 

of error, that, reared in times of ignorance supported by- 
fraud and craft, had imposed upon the lives and consciences 
of men for centuries. Perhaps this mighty work could not 
have been done so certainly in any other manner as by the 
blood of these noble men and women, as while their death for, 
did not prove the truth of their religion, it did prove their 
sublime sincerity, a heroism that awed, subdued, comjuered 
the world. 

In walking in these narrow passages with a wall of human 
dust from departed ages on either side, I felt as did Moses in 
the presence of the burning bush, 'that the place whereon I 
stood was holy ground.' After visiting other portions of this 
catacomb and examining many frescoes and inscriptions, we 
emerged from this region of sepulchres by an old flight of 
stairs at a point remote from where we entered, and continued 
our route along the via Appia, passing the deserted church of 
S. Urbano, with Corinthian marble pillars, the Villa of Herodes 
Atticus and a great number of other ruined temples and tombs, 
among them the tomb of the two Horatii and the three Curatii 
who fell in mortal combat here, as the champions of the Roman 
and Latin armies, continuing our route as far as the nine mile 
stone to the Appian Forum and Three Taverns, at which point 
the brethren in Rome having heard of Paul's coming came 
out to meet him. See Acts xxviii. 

The day, Ja,n. 22nd, 1885, was very cold and disagreeable, 
ice being frequently present on the pools of water by the road- 
side, while large icicles hung under the dripping walls, the 
ground was frozen in the shade, and yet the vegetation was 
not killed, grass green, oranges hanging on the trees, and some 
of the more hardy garden vegetables still growing in the 
gardens , apparently none the worse for this freezing weather, 
I do not know how this is. I am sure such weather would de- 
stroy grass and all garden vegetables in St. Louis. 



1 86 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

PISA. 

Feb. ijih, iSSs- — Left the Eternal City at 2 p. m., and after 
a pleasant run of eight hours arrived at the long-since-finished 
city of Pisa, which still stands in her wedding robes, but robes 
so tattered and torn from the wear of 600 years without repair 
that they might be mistaken for working garments. But Pisa 
works not, and her dress is the more interesting from the fact 
that it presents us the full dress suit of mediaeval times. The 
great world around her has moved on, and fashions changed, 
but Pisa changes not. Here we parted with our pleasant and 
accomplished St. Louis friends, who had accompanied us in all 
our wanderings through the classic scenes of Italy. 

Pisa is situated on the Arno, six miles from its entrance into 
the Mediterranean, and is practically a seaport town. It has 
now- only 26,000 inhabitants, but in the days of its glory had 
many times this number, with a history dating back to the 
third century B. C, at which time it was an important Roman 
colony. But it was not until the eleventh and twelfth centuries 
it obtained its greatest commercial nnportance, and attained 
its greatest splendor in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
rivaling Venice and Genoa in the daring of her exploits at sea, 
and with her strong fleet of war vessels driving back the con- 
quering hordes of Saracens that threatened the conquest of 
Europe. In the middle of the thirteenth century she unfortu- 
nately engaged in a disastrous war with her great naval rival, 
Genoa, and after many years of fierce and destructive combats 
at sea, finally in 1288, sustained an overwhelming defeat by 
the Genoese, in which she lost her fleet and liberty, and from 
the disastrous consequences of which she never recovered — 
and in 1406, like a female slave, was thrown upon the market 
and sold to her former rival, Florence. 

Feb. 1 8th. — We visited the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, 
Baptistery and Campo Santo, the four only objects in Pisa of 



PISA. 187 

any particular interest. But these constitute Pisa a point of 
wondrous interest to the tourist, who sees in these ghostly 
spectres that stand out from the shadowy light of the Middle 
Ages the image of what Pisa was when her embattled 
hosts withstood the Moslem power, and also the embodied 
crystalized plastic art of the close of the Dark, and early dawn 
of the Middle, Ages, eleventh to thirteenth centuries. 

The Cathedral (Duomo), erected in 1163, is among the 
largest and finest churches in Italy. It is a basilica, 312 feet 
long, 1 10 feet wide, with a transept near the far end consti- 
tuting a Latin cross, with a lofty dome over the center of the 
cross. It is built of white marble with just enough black mar- 
ble placed in the wall surface to break the monotony of a plain 
white wall. The handsome facade is ornamented with columns, 
arches and open galleries. The interior has four rows of lofty 
columns and two aisles on either side of the nave — this latter is 
paved — beautifully tesselated with variegated marble, which 
produces a most pleasing appearance. The sides and ceiling 
are ornamented with frescoes. There are twelve altars of a 
later construction, and said to have been built by Michael 
Angelo. Near the high altar which is elaborate and very fine 
is'a Madonna by Reni, and St. Agnes, by A. del Sarto. The 
choir has finely-carved stalls, a large mosaic of the twelfth 
century, Christ with Mary and St. John on either side. Over 
the arch of the choir are mosaics of angels and saints. From 
the lofty ceiling in the nave, hangs a lamp suspended by a rod 
more than a hundred feet in length, the swinging of Avhich sug- 
gested to Galileo the idea of measuring time by the pendulum. 
This immortal genius, who was a good Catholic, being in at- 
tendance at church, and his attention not entirely absorbed by 
the service, observed that this great bronze chandelier, which 
had been set swinging by the sexton, continued to pass through 
a certain arch in a given time, conceived the happy thought 



I 88 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

that if a pendulum could be kept passing over a given segment 
in a given time by machinery, it would correctly measure time. 
Hence, the clock, the pendulum, with all its benefits and uses. 
Surely there never was a lamp more prolific in results ; and in 
observing it, suspended by a rod 150 feet in length, moved by 
the least vibration, I felt satisfied that no chandelier ever pre- 
sented conditions more suggestive of such a thought. 

THE BAPTISTERY. 

The Baptistery, also entirely of marble, is a beautiful struct- 
ure, circular, terminating in a lofty dome 190 feet above the 
pavement. It is 100 feet in diameter, and is surrounded by a 
gallery with marble columns, with a beautiful marble font in 
the center, elaborately decorated. A highly-artistic pulpit, by 
Pirono, is supported by seven columns. The echo in this 
building is the finest I have heard — truly astonishing. A note 
sounded is repeated again and again, echoed back in a differ- 
ent key each time ; first clearly, from the lower half, then from 
the upper gallery, and lastly from the lofty dome, until it is dif- 
ficult to believe, and must be repeated, to satisfy that the last 
is the echo of the first sound. Let none visiting the baptistery 
fail to observe this beautiful phenomenon. 

THE CAMPANILE. 

The famous Leaning Tower at Pisa, long mentioned as one 
of the wonders of the world, is indeed a wondrous structure, 
built also of marble, 179 feet high, and leans so much as to be 
thirteen feet out of the perpendicular. To look at it we 
naturally wonder how it stands, and yet it has stood just as it 
now stands since its first erection, in the twelfth century, un- 
moved by the battles and storms of 700 years. That it leaned 
in this manner before its completion is proven in the fact that 
the upper story is leaned in the opposite direction, evidently to 
balance the false position of the lower stories. So much is this 
the case that were the column below straightened, this would 



PISA. 189 

fall off. Why did they not stop the work, when, by the foun- 
dation giving away, it leaned in this manner ? Well, simply 
because it was built in this oblique manner intentionally ; and 
it certainly accomplishes the object of the builder, in giving it 
a greatly increased interest. As a straight column it never 
would have rivaled the incomparable campanile of Giotto, at 
Florence. As a leaning tower it possesses an interest pecu- 
liarly its own. It is composed of eight stories, each orna- 
mented with row^s of light Corinthian pillars running around the 
tower. It is ascended by stone steps winding around on the 
inside, to the top, where are several large bells, the largest of 
which weighs six tons, and is placed on the upper side to assist 
in balancing what seems to be the tottering structure. I as- 
cended to the top — 290 stone steps. The leaning state of the 
tower was so marked in the obliquity of the steps, that I felt 
uncomfortable and hardly enjoyed the grand view of the city, 
plain, the winding Arno and distant mountains, obtained from 
its lofty summit, lest the crazy thing would fall, which it cer- 
tainly threatens to do at any moment. Galileo took advan- 
tage of the obliquity of this tower in making his calculations 
regarding the law of gravitation. 

CAMPO SANTO. 

The Campo Santo was first consecrated in the twelfth cen- 
tury, by Archbishop Ubaldo, who, after the conquest of the 
Holy Land by the Moslems, caused fifty-three ship-loads of 
holy earth to be brought from Mount Calvary and deposited 
here, in order that the Christian dead might repose in holy 
ground. It is 411 feet long and 171 feet wide, being an open 
court in shape of an oblong square. Externally there are 
arcades resting on forty-four pilasters ; internally an open hall 
with open round windows opening upon a green quadrangle. 
There are three small chapels opening into the covered way, 
which, as a wide portico, runs around the entire interior. The 



190 SOUVENIRS OF tra\i:l. 

marble slabs composing the pavement of tliis portico are 
tombstones — the entire pavement is made up of tombstones — 
every square foot representing corpses. The strange, unique 
frescoes on the walls constitute perhaps the greatest charm of 
this very strange place, where we are brought directly in con- 
tact with the crude materialistic notions of the Christians, or 
the Church, during the Middle Ages, concerning the soul and 
its hereafter. These are beautiful or frightful according as the 
artist wishes to portray the states or conditions of the soul, as 
taught by the Church at that day. 

On the north wall is a large fresco of an equestrian group, 
who, in high, gladsome spirits are going out to the chase, 
when they came suddenly on three open coffins, each contain- 
ing a corpse in different stages of decomposition, with hideous 
snakes crawling over them. This is to remind us of the tran- 
sitory nature of pleasure, the uncertainty of life and the cer- 
tainty of death. The grouping of the party, the surprise of 
the horses and the different manner in which each individual 
is affected is admirable. 

To the right of this, is the angel of death, with his scythe 
mowing down indiscriminately rich and poor, young and old, 
kings and beggars, and a rich harvest he is making. On one 
side of death are a party \u rich attire, good-livers, who are 
horrified at the approach of death, and fain would get out of 
the way ; on the other, a group of the poor, the disconsolate, 
the lame, halt and blind, who, dissatisfied with their lot here, 
are quite ready to take their chances in the hereafter ; these 
welcome the angel with outstretched arms and with feelings of 
evident delight. Farther on is the last judgment; above is 
Christ with the Virgin on His right hand, both seated on thrones 
and wearing crowns ; on either side opposite their feet are six 
apostles ; on the right, are a large group of the saved, whose 
countenances express their happiness ; on the left, a terrified 



GENOA. 191 

crowd chased by devils, who catch at them as they are pitched 
over the battlements of the upper world, some falling head- 
most, others seized and dragged down, or driven before fright- 
ful devils; on the right, coffins opening and the bodies com- 
ing forth to judgment; others just dying, with their souls as 
small dolls, escaping from their mouths — the last breath. These 
in some instances are pointed to the right by angels, in others 
seized and dragged to the left by monstrous devils. One 
tomb-stone is being lifted, and a bishop with mitre on is com- 
ing forth, who thinking his place is to the right, is starting 
for that point, when an angel seizes him by the head and 
points him to the left, where an angry-looking devil is anx- 
iously waiting to get and bear him company to other quarters. 
The look of disgust, disappointment and terror shown in the 
face of this bishop, who had expected to go to heaven as a 
bishop, in finding himself turned into hell as a man, is truly 
ludicrous. They should have had more respect for the bishop; 
well, perhaps they did, but this was so intimately associated 
with the man, that when the devil got the latter, the former 
had to keep it company. So much for being found in bad 
company. 

GENOA. 

Genoa is picturesquely situated upon a semi-circular ridge 
of hills that rise several hundred feet above the bay, and is the 
most important commercial city in Italy. The city has 150,- 
000 inhabitants, and after the fall of the Roman Empire, long 
stood as the guardian and bulwark against the marauding 
expeditions of the Saracens, protecting by her powerful fleets 
the more defenseless cities of this part of Italy. 

The town has always been fortified, and now, since the 
erection of fifteen or tM^enty formidable modern forts upon the 
higher hills overlooking the harbor, is a very Sebastopol. The 
crescent-shaped harbor has light-houses upon its projecting 



192 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

promontories at its entrance. These, with their bright calcium 
lights high in the air, with the long line of gas lights that run 
along the semi-circular hills, city lights, together with the num- 
erous lights from lanterns hung to the masts of the ships in 
the harbor, present at night, as I am now writing, a most beau- 
tiful, weird appearance. With an intelligent guide we drove 
over the city, passing the Cathedral S. Lorenzo, built in the 
eleventh century, S. Ambrosio, Palazzo Ducale, and on to the 
Campo Santo, continuing our drive to the Palazzo Rossa, a 
very paradise upon the mountain side high above the city. 
From this lovely situation we had a fine view of the city, with 
its churches, palaces and fine palatial houses running around 
and over the semi-circle of hills upon which the city is built, 
together with the beautiful harbor crowded with schooners, 
ships and steamers, from almost every nation. The evidence 
of industry and thrift everywhere present, with the absence of 
the swarms of lazy beggars that infest Southern Italy, of itself 
greatly increases the pleasure derived in visiting this beautiful 
historic city. We visited, as will all Americans, the beautiful 
Piazza Aqua Verde, in which is a colossal statue of Columbus, 
a Genoese. At the foot of the statue is the goddess of the 
world he discovered, America, then a primeval wilderness, the 
habitation of savage beasts, and yet more savage men, now 
the abode of 50,000,000 of civilized, cultivated men, with its 
wilderness changed to a garden and its desolate places into 
crowded cities. Allegorical figures are around the base, 
appropriately symbolizing the America of to-day, religion, 
strength, wisdom and geography. 

MILAN. 

Feb. i8th. — Left Genoa at 10:30 a.m., and arrived at Milan 
— 94 miles — at 3 p. m., and put up at the Hotel de Lione. 
Milan is much the finest city in all Italy, with a population 



MILAN. 193 

of 250,000 inhabitants. The houses are well-built, streets 
wide and clean, with the general appearance of thrift. The 
men are larger than in Southern Italy, well becoming the de- 
scendants of the conquerors of the world, while the women are 
handsome, charmingly so, large, dark, lustrous eyes, heavy eye- 
brows with long eyelashes, giving them a charm peculiarly 
Italian, and if their remote Sabine grandmothers were as taking 
I wonder not that the Romans took them. 

The Carnival struck us at Rome, followed us to Pisa, from 
there to Genoa, and now we are in its midst here at Milan, 
which we are told is the last point at which this church revel 
takes place. But this is Ash Wednesday! the first day of 
Lent, and with Catholics considered most holy; well, but these 
pleasure-loving Milanese could not help this, they were entitled 
to their Carnival and if Ash Wednesday came on too soon for 
it, it was no fault of theirs. The fault was manifestly in the 
Carnival not coming around sooner, or in the Ash Wednesday 
coming around too soon, consequently the day — not the 
Milanese — must give way. Well, the pope was equal to the 
difficulty, and by a bull or otherwise, declared the day off, and 
the Ash Wednesday, not the Carnival, gave way. Consequent- 
ly on this first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday to the contrary 
notwithstanding, we are in the midst of Carnival, feasting, 
drinking, yelling, blowing horns, with masquerade balls, etc., 
etc. But still another difiiculty presents itself, the fourth day, 
on which their grand parade and high revel was to take place, 
was rainy, insomuch that the parade could not take place; well, 
this again was no fault of the Milanese, the clerk of the 
weather had blundered, consequently the high revel took place 
on Sunday, first Sunday in Lent, feasting, revelling, dancing, and 
merry-making. AVell as he whose business it was to look after 
the weather, had neglected to do so, the pope very properly 
came to the aid of these devout Christians and declared Sun- 



1 94 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

day off, and like Rip with his drinks, did not count the first five 
days of Lent, Ash Wednesday and Sunday included. But after 
all, while it really looked strange, I do not know that there was 
anything wrong — the whole matter, the fixing of the time of 
Lent, Lent itself with the distinction between Sunday and any 
other day are entirely church regulations and appointments, 
why not the head of the Church declare them off and on ; 
and here in Italy they have someone to do this. 

The cathedral dedicated to Maria is justly the pride of 
all true Milanese, for while -not the eighth wonder of the 
world, and hardly a wonder at all, except that we might wonder 
that any people should be so fooHsh as to waste money as 
much of this has been wasted, yet it is a most beautiful struc- 
ture, and is, with only two exceptions, the largest church in 
the world, and while not so large or costly as St. Peter's it is 
much more beautiful, is 477 feet in length, is 183 feet wide 
and 155 feet in height. The dome over the centre of the 
transept is 220, and the tower 360 feet above the pavement. 
The entire structure is of marble and so elaborately carved 
and ornamented as to present a beautiful lace-work. There 
are on its exterior alone 2,000 marble statues which adorn the 
doorways, the windows, recesses, niches and walls, many of these 
statues of apostles, saints, angels, Cupids, gods and heroes, are 
in bas or alto reliefs. The interior is scarcely less elaborately 
adorned. The vast pavement or floor is of variegated marble 
with figures as elaborate, delicate and beautiful as a highly- 
wrought carpet. The church is in the shape of a Latin cross, 
with double aisles, divided by fifty-two marble pillars 100 feet 
high, which support the roof. Each of these pillars is twelve 
feet in diameter and connected above by beautiful sharply- 
pointed Gothic arches. The choir is Gothic in style. The 
lofty Gothic windows, with their beautiful stained glass, are 
strikingly beautiful. Many statues, tombs and paintings, with 



MILAN. 195 

eight or ten altars adorn the interior. In front of one of these 
altars I noticed a small picture, or piece of silver, some two 
inches wide and six inches long, which the devotees, as they 
passed, kissed, when high enough, and when not — as with 
many women — passed their fingers over it and crossed them- 
selves. I regretted I could not learn the history of this image, 
and on noticing it I could not divine its nature, but suppose it 
had, in some way, some very sacred association, possibly the 
piece of money miraculously obtained from the fish's mouth, 
as it looked like some old Roman coin, or a silver beetle — the 
feticJi of some saint. 

The tower is ascended by 512 steps, 194 inside and 318 
outside Unfortunately the morning we ascended it was 
a little hazy, so much so that distant objects were in- 
distinct. Far off was the long line of snow-capped Alps in- 
distinctly outlined, rendering it impossible to distinguish Mount 
Blanc or Jungfrau, both of which are distinctly visible from 
this point on a clear day. The city of Milan, however, and a 
wide range of the plain of Lombardy, were beautifully shown. 
After mounting to the roof we walked over its flat surface 200 
feet above the pavement, covered with marble statues and 
pinnacles. One of these statues is that of Napoleon, by Canova. 
This roof has been, not inaptly, called the Flower Garden. 

Visited the Brera, or Picture Gallery, containing 600 
pictures, many of them of much, and a few of very great, merit. 
Among the latter, and the gem of the collection, is Raphael's 
Sposalizio or Nuptials of the Virgin. Near this is a much-ad- 
mired work, the head of Christ, by Leonardo da Vinci. Other 
works of much merit are St. Jerome, by Titian ; Madonna, by 
Bellini; portraits by Mengs, Rembrandt, Van Dyck; Madonna 
and Saints, by Dominichino; Dead Monk, by Velasquez. 

The Gallerie Vittoria Emanuel, connecting the cathedral 
square with the square of the stairs, where are placed the 



ig6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Statues of Leonardo da Vinci and his pupils, is a beautiful glass 
covered passage, the finest of its kind in Europe. 

Visited St. Maria delle Grazie, an old abbey church of the 
13th century, built by Bramante. It contains some fine tombs, 
monuments and frescoes. In an adjoining small refectory is 
the wondrous fresco of Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper. 
Perhaps no other work of art ever received so much attention 
as this marvelous fresco. Unfortunately 400 years of corrod- 
ing time, with neglect and vandalism — the ignorant monks cut 
a doorway through it and have dealt harshly with it, leaving it 
in ruins. But, like the Colosseum at Rome, it impresses us, 
perhaps, none the less favorably even in its ruins, as in this we 
have what it now is, while the excited imagination is stimu- 
lated to fill up from the immeasurable void what it may have 
been, returning from the dreary waste with the conscious- 
ness that its restoration is impossible — but even this serves to 
increase our curiosity by investing it with greater mystery — a 
want ever increasing, never satisfied, insatiable. No painting 
has ever been so often copied or engraved, so widely diffused, 
so universally known. Where could a person be found who is 
unacquainted with Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper? But 
even the earliest and best copies are inferior to the original, 
even' in its ruins, as all others, though highly-gifted, have 
utterly failed to impress the motive, the shock produced by the 
words " One of you shall betray me," as it affected the different 
apostles, and shown in their features, only in the original. 
Some six or eight artists were engaged in copying it, aided by 
several early copies to enable them to fill the gaps time has 
made in the original, and it is said that many highly-gifted 
artists, after coming here to copy it, and after studying it for 
days, have left in despair, fearing to even attempt so impossible 
a work. While no praise of this wondrous fresco — the nearest 
embodiment of the unattainable ideal — in the soul of the great- 



MILAN. 197 

est of geniuses — can perhaps be overwrought, or scarcely con- 
sidered extravagant, is it not quite possible that the religious 
sentiment, so intimately associated with the occurrence or 
facts expressed in this picture, has much to do in so impress- 
ing all Christians ; and is it not possible that a great Moham- 
medan painter, did such exist, might place it far below many 
of Raphael's paintings, or his Vatican frescoes ? 

Visited the old church of St. Ambrosia, founded by St. Am- 
brose in the fourth century, on the ruins of a temple of Bacchus, 
and one of the oldest churches in Christendom. Its an- 
tiquity impresses us not more in its time-worn appearance than 
in its antique shape. After passing down several steps, we pass 
through a gateway opening into an open court, surrounded by 
a wide corridor, containing early Christian inscriptions and sarco- 
phagi with bas rehefs, some of these from the old temple, and 
2,000 years old. The church is a basilica supported by gran- 
ite columns, so old that, though of granite, they are much cor- 
roded and injured by time. They most likely also belonged to 
the old temple of Bacchus. The gates of the church we are 
informed are the same that St. Ambrose closed against the 
wicked emperor Theodosius, in 399. The interior contains 
many old and faded frescoes and mosaics of the fifth, sixth, 
and ninth centuries. In one side of the nave is a coiled brazen 
serpent mounted upon a post, which we are assured is the 
identical brazen serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness 
more than 3,000 years ago. If so it is the oldest serpent in the 
world — the devil only excepted. I believe the history of his 
serpentship is a little misty, mythical, but it is here never- 
theless. There are several other old churches here in Milan 
quite worth seeing, and, like all the old churches in art-loving 
Italy, containing many frescoes and mosaics, monuments, 
sarcophagi and statues, many of them of artistic or historical 
importance. 



198 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

LAKE COMO. 

March Left Milan for Lake Como, distant thirty miles, 

at 2 p. M. At Como took steamer for Belagio, a beautiful 
point on Lake Como, where the lake divides into the arms, 
which run to Como and Lecco. The day was clear and beau- 
tiful and the trip on the steamer from Como to Belagio, fifteen 
miles, one of surpassing loveliness. This lake is a sheet of 
crystal water, enclosed by rough, ragged, volcanic mountains, 
rising on either side to a height of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet. 
The weather had been cold and rainy, and all the higher points 
of these mountains were covered with snow, which on the 
north sides, and in places not exposed to the sun, extends 
down the hill-sides to within a few hundred feet of the lake, 
greatly increasing the wild beauty of this Alpine region. The 
waters are clear blue or green as the depth varies, the lake 
having in some places so great a depth as 2,000 feet. These 
mountains rise directly from the lake, the lake in fact being 
only the depressions between the mountains filled with water, 
which has risen until it has found an outlet in a considerable 
river forming one of the numerous tributaries of the Po. These 
placid waters, being surrounded by the encircling mountains, 
are seldom disturbed by more than a passing breeze. The 
nights here at Belagio have continued clear and the sky in this 
Alpine region truly beautiful — bright, blue, serene, bespangled 
with gold, each star shone as a diamond in an ebony setting. 
Quite charmed with this Alpine sky, we remained until late at 
night on the open piazza of our hotel, which overhangs the 
lake, admiring this wondrous gold-spangled vault above us, 
while each star was reflected from the water as from a mirror. 

Took steamer for Colico, at the upper end of the lake some 
ten or twelve miles distant, at which point the mountain stream 
Adda enters the lake, from which its waters again flow at the 
lower end of Lake Lecco. Beyond Colico the course of the 



LAKE COMO. 199 

river is traced by a long gap in the mountains — the entire re- 
gion is of volcanic origin — the bare volcanic rocks rising on 
either side in rugged grandeur. But the most curious and in- 
teresting feature of these steep and almost inaccessible moun- 
tains is the triumph of man over nature, in forcing from those 
rugged, rock-ribbed and forbidding cliffs, not a scanty subsist- 
ence for a few inhabitants, as we see in other even more prom- 
ising districts, but an abundant and profitable supply for the 
most densely peopled district on the globe. Nowhere else, 
not even in the richest valley, is it possible to support so dense 
an agricultural population as is found here on these, by nature, 
sterile hill-sides. Almost a continuous line of villages, towns 
and clusters of houses, line the base of these mountains on 
either side of the lake, from Como to Colico, a distance of 
thirty miles, while the mountam-sides, to their precipitous sum- 
mits, are dotted over with farm-houses and villages of perhaps 
from 500 to 1000 inhabitants, with churches almost innumera- 
ble. At one view I counted twenty churches, not in a city, 
but in villages in clusters, or now and then situated on an al- 
most inaccessible rock, two or three thousand feet above the 
lake. Surely, if we are to judge the piety of a people by the 
number of their churches, these must constitute a multitudinous 
swarm of saints. Now how have these sterile hill-sides been 
made so fertile ? All their fertility is of man's creation. In 
the first place they are terraced often from near the lake to a 
height of 3,000 feet. These terraces run along the hill-sides, 
seemingly, as seen from the lake, are only long, ^vide 
steps for ascending the mountain. But in fact they are long 
lines of stone walls, six and ten feet high, with intervenmg ter- 
races or flat surfaces, ten or twenty feet wide, according to the 
steepness of the hill-side. On these terraces are grape-vines 
and mulberry shrubs ; the shrubs making supports for the 
vines, and furnishing the food for millions of silk-worms — the 



2 00 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

product of which supports and gives employment to this dense 
population, this district being the very heart of the silk-producing 
section of Italy, while higher up the mountains, where it is too 
cold for vines and silk-culture, olive-orchards furnish employment 
to a number of inhabitants. Still above these olive-groves, 
chestnut and walnut trees continue the profitable culture to the 
very summit of these hills. Millions of cubic yards of masonry 
are in the terrace walls, and the very earth upon the flat sur- 
faces in which the trees grow is often carried and deposited 
there from other points, in baskets. All this is possible in this 
country, where labor is abundant and cheap, but very strange 
to an American. Why, to ten-ace and treat in this way the 
Missouri River hills would cost more money, than all the wine 
and silk of Italy would pay for in, perhaps, a thousand years. 

March nth.- — Took steamer for Lecco, which is at the 
terminus of the other branch of the lake, eight or ten miles 
from Belagio. This branch of the lake lies in a sterile, pre- 
cipitous, rocky Alpine gorge, and by exposure to a cold ^\^nd 
from the snow-clad Alps, is rendered so sterile that no effort of 
man has been able to redeem it to but a limited extent, and 
being but illy adapted to the vine and not at all to silk-culture, 
has long since attained its farthest possible culture, giving un- 
mistakable evidence that one or two thousand years ago this 
district contained quite as many inhabitants as could possibly 
wring from reluctant nature a scanty support. All the farm- 
houses and clusters of houses are old, very old, in many cases 
not less than i,ooo or i,8oo years old. The very tiles, though 
indestructible, are rotten and covered with a brown lichen or 
moss, giving them much the same appearance as the brown, 
moss-covered, sterile hills above and around them, and of which 
they seem to form a part. These are tenanted, as , they have 
been for a thousand years, by those who, like their remote 
ancestors, eke out a precarious existence upon the product of 



VERONA. 20 1 

the few walnut and chestnut trees that these hills support. 
These people live in the same houses their ancestors lived in 
1,000 years ago — no more, perhaps less. What has become 
of all the children that have grown up here in the last thous- 
and years ? Doubtless the solution to this question, though 
sad, is an easy one. From age to age, inexorable necessity has 
driven these sons and daughters from the rock-bound, but 
none the less loved, homes of their infancy, to seek subsistence 
elsewher-e, leaving only such as would supplement the death- 
rate of fathers and mothers. That this has been so — that 
these mountain-born poor have been driven, not by election, 
but inevitable necessity, from their hearth-stones, is as certain 
as the rock-bound history of their native hills. 

March I2th- — This is the fortieth anniversary of our weddmg. 
How very few of those who knew and loved us then are living 
now ! Alas what havoc time makes in forty years. In forty 
years more perhaps none of all earth's inhabitants will know 
that we ever lived. We have spent five days at this, the most 
beautiful of all Italian lakes. Left March 13th for Verona. 
VERONA. 

March 14th. — This is a gala day here. Bright flags wave 
along the streets, while military companies in their brightest 
uniforms, with bands of music are parading in the streets. It 
is the natal day of the king and also of the unification of Italy. 

Verona, situated in northern Italy, near the Austrian line, 
has a population of 60,000, and is strongly fortified. It is an 
old city, having been founded by the Rhoetians. It became a 
Roman city B. C. 100, and is, next to Milan, the most im- 
portant city in northern Italy. It is immortalized by Shake- 
spear, whose Romeo and Juliet lived, loved and died here. 

March i^th. — Took carriage and drove over the city, visit- 
ing its churches and most important points, among them the 
tomb of Juliet which is visited by all English-speaking people 



202 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

with much the same reverence a pilgrim feels in visiting the 
shrine of a saint. It is a small red granite sarcophagus in the 
open court of an old monastery, and was covered or half-filled 
with flowers, the offerings of the multitudes of visitors here. 
Now it is possible it is not a sarcophagus, but a bath-tub, and 
may have never contained the corpse of Juliet or anyone else, 
and yet, as it represents her tomb, it possesses a far higher inter- 
est than the costly tombs of kings or queens. How wonder- 
ful the work of genius. Here the immortal Bard of Avon has 
embalmed a love between two young hearts, that will outlive 
this granite urn, yea more lasting than even the everlasting 
pyramids of Egypt, as while these perish, love is immortal, and 
shall outlive the great globe itself, and when it dies earth and 
heaven would exist in vain. The house in which Juliet lived 
is still shown here, and perhaps will be, as long as a house 
exists in Verona, as such places live as long as persons wish to 
see them. 

The old Roman amphitheatre, built in the third century, is I 
beheve the only one of these structures in a good state of pres- 
ervation, and used for fetes and shows at the present day. It 
is 550 feet in circumference and the wall 100 feet high. On the 
inside, rows of marble benches run around the wall, rising quite 
to its summit, and capable of seating 20,000 people. From 
the top of the walls we obtain a fine view of the town and 
adjacent country. 

The old church of S. Zeno Magiore, built in the eleventh 
century, contains many fragments of ruins, broken columns, 
friezes from pagan temples and urns. One of porphyry, twenty- 
five feet in circumference, belonging to an old heathen temple, 
is 2,000 years old. There are many old paintings and frescoes, 
one by Giotto. 

In the public garden are antique grottoes, perhaps used as 
temples by the Romans, and a number of large cypress trees 
known to be 500 years old. 



MUNICH. 203 

MUNICH. 

Munich is situated at a greater elevation (2,000 feet) above 
the sea than any other capital in Europe, and is, as we found 
on our arrival, correspondingly cold. Winter still lingered here, 
with snow on the north sides of the house-tops, and the street 
gulleys full of snow and ice. This, after leaving the warm, 
bright skys of sunny Italy, gave a chilly, hyperborean appear- 
ance to the place, which was scarcely dissipated by our three- 
weeks stay. I am sure Munich should not be visited before 
May or June. Were I traveling here again I would spend 
February in Naples, March in Rome, April and May in north- 
ern Italy and June in Munich and southern Germany. It is 
the capital of Bavaria and has a population of 170,000, and 
next to Dresden is the most important art city in Germany, in 
modern painting perhaps the most important in Europe. It 
has for its river the " Isar, rolling rapidly," but as it was in 
April we most frequented its banks, not dark as winter, but 
bright as summer, was its flow. The Isar is spanned by several 
bridges. The most interesting one is the Maximilian's BrLicke, 
which spans tTie Isar at the island, and the Maximilianeum. 
The most interesting street is the Maximilian's Strasse, on 
which is a beautiful platz, containing some fine statues, and 
surrounded by public buildings and palatial houses. This and 
other squares contain many beautiful monuments and statues 
of Bavarian kings, heroes and statesmen and others in marble 
and bronze. Among these are the statues of Max Joseph, Max- 
imilian, Lewis I., Gen. Deray, Schelling the metaphysician, 
Frankhofer the optician, Liebeg the chemist, Gluck the 
composer. 

There are two picture galleries, the old and new Pinakothek, 
which contain a large collection of paintings, many of them of 
much merit. As all the most important are by painters whose 
works have been met with and mentioned, we shall not now 



2 04 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

mention even the most important of these, excepting the two 
girls counting their money, received by the sale of their fruit ; 
two beggar boys eating grapes and melons ; old woman 
combing boy's head while he is eating bread, by Mu7'illo. 
These are the gems of the gallery and are truly great works, 
and that they are taken from life, and faithfully and accurately 
represent the persons, class and scenes of that day in Madrid 
where they wrre painted, no one seeing these beautiful works 
of art can doubt. 

The Glyptothek (repository of sculpture) contains an im- 
mense collection of ancient sculptures, many of them of great 
beauty, forming a most valuable school for the study of an- 
cient sculpture, as well as constituting a most delightful and 
profitable place to the tourist. 

The damp, cold weather had rendered our stay here much 
more prosy than it would otherwise have been — and this was 
increased by the state of our health. Wife had another attack 
of hepatic colic — the first since leaving Carlsbad. This has- 
tened our departure. We left May 8th for Carlsbad, and 
after remaining some five weeks, with wife's health much im- 
proved, we left for Nuremberg, May i6th, at 4 p. m., where we 
arrived at 1 1 p. m. 

NUREMBERG. 

Nuremberg is a quaint old German city of 100,000 inhab- 
itants, in which we have a mediaeval city preserved more per- 
fecdy than in any other of all the cities of Europe. But this 
being a German city, we have not alone a mediaeval city, but a 
German city of the fifteenth century, in a beauty and perfection 
found nowhere else in Germany. Indeed within the walls the 
pleasing picturesque peculiarities of German architecture of 
the Middle Ages have been preserved almost as unchanged as 
have those of a Roman city, of the first century of our 
era, by the lava beds that covered Pompeii. Here within 



NUREMBERG. 205 

this old city we are brought in direct contact with the German 
civilization of 400 years ago, and are enabled to read in its 
stereotyped forms that witnessed the introduction of printing 
and the Renaissance of arts and science, what Germany then 
was without its forms being changed by changes that remoulded 
Europe. Consequently the most interesting thing to be seen 
in Nuremberg, is Nuremberg itself. Its quaint, old-fashioned 
houses, with their bow windows, quaint devices, high, steep 
gables, and red tiled roofs, how queer ! Not alone the body, 
but the very soul of Teutonic medieval times is in them, and 
we readily feel that we are listehmg to their expressions of in- 
credulity, as the vague reports of the discovery of a new world 
are bemg circulated through these, then isolated, parts of the 
world, while its fortifications tell us that they were constructed 
when the bow, the lance and batde-axe, with coats of mailed 
armour were being replaced by the crude, short-ranged match 
and flint-lock musket, and were constructed to meet a want 
made necessary by times in which, practically, might made 
right, when all things belonged to him who could take them, 
and consequently when the persons and property of cities 
could only be made secure by such means as bid defiance 
alike to roving bands of freebooters, and invading armies. 
And against all of these perhaps no town in Europe had made 
such sure defence as Nuremberg. 

First around the old town, of perhaps 30,000 or 40,000 in- 
habitants, a deep ditch thirty feet wide and twenty feet deep, 
was dug, and this lined with heavy perpendicular walls of solid 
masonry. On the inside of this ditch was erected, quite around 
the city, a solid stone wall of great thickness and thirty feet 
high, with, every hundred yards, a tower of different height and 
shape, rising thirty or fifty feet above the walls. The ditch 
and wall, some three or four miles in length, entirely enclosed 
the city, with strong gates at convenient distances, approached 



206- SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

by a draw -bridge. Before the invention of gunpowder and heavy 
cannon, 10,000 determined men— and these old Teutons were 
determined men — could have defended the city against an army 
as numerous as that with which Xerxes invaded Greece. 

May lyth. — Drove around the walls of the city, visited the 
old castle, a former stronghold that protected rulers against the 
Nurembergers, as the city walls protected these against outside 
invaders. Visited many of the most noted houses and places — 
the statue of Palm, a Nuremberg patriot, who fell a victim to 
the remorseless despotism of Napoleon I.; also the statue and 
house of Diirer, the greatest of the German painters. Watches 
were first made here, and from their flattened, egg-like shape 
were long called Nuremberg eggs. 

FRANKFORT ON THE MAIN. 

May 20th. — Left Nuremberg at 9 a. m. for Frankfort on the 
Main, where we arrived at 5 p. m. Put up at the Hotel Swan, 
a hotel with accommodations inversely as the charges, prices 
high, fare mean. Our route was along the constantly- enlarging 
Main, which at the quaint old German town of Wurtzburg has 
become a navigable river, adown the beautiful, fruitful valley of 
which, we continued to Frankfort, near its junction with the. 
Rhine, and really within its vine-clad valley. 

Frankfort, with a population of 140,000, is one of the most 
wealthy and oldest cities of Germany. In 790 Charlemagne 
held a convocation of bishops here and made it one of his 
royal residences. It is situated on either side of the Main, 
which is spanned by four or five bridges, some of which are 
700 years old. It has the appearance of a modern city, with 
most of its objects of interest belonging to modern times. 
Visited most of these, among them the mionument of Guten- 
berg, with its three statues of the printers, Faust, Gutenberg 
and Shaffer ; a statue of Luther on the spot in the cathedral 



WIESBADEN. 207 

square, where he preached a sermon on his way to Worms i 
the Romer, a quaint old building of the sixteenth century ; 
the great shopping street, the Zeil ; the Ariadneum, containing 
a most beautiful work in marble, Ariadne seated on a panther, 
by Dannecker; the Art Institute, a beautiful Renaissance 
structure situated on the left bank of the river, containing a 
collection of art works, paintings, etc., of which the Frank- 
forters are justly proud ; several excellent paintings by the 
Hobeins-, elder and younger ; a number by Rembrandt, Rubens, 
Hals, Tenniers and Van Dyck, of the Dutch and Flemish 
schools. The Italian school is poorly represented by P. Ver- 
onese, Bellini and Reni. 

WIESBADEN. 

May 2jd. — This is one of the most popular watering places 
in Europe, some 60,000 persons visiting it annually. It is re- 
sorted to not more perhaps on account of its healing waters 
than its mild, equitable climate and the loveliness of its sur- 
roundings. It is a fashionable resort, where the wealthy and 
aristocratic classes delight to loiter away the spring or 
summer. It is an old watering place, known to the Romans, 
who built baths here prior to the beginning of the Christian era. 
The ruins of these baths, and also an old Roman fort, are 
found here at the present time, and as in this curious, search- 
ing age all things that have an antiquarian appearance are 
interesting in proportion to their approach to antediluvian 
times, these time-scarred ruins are perhaps of more interest 
and value than when useful. For a thousand years after the fall 
of the Western Roman Empire, Wiesbaden and its baths con- 
tinued a source of strife between the Teutons, who possessed 
them by right of territory, and the rapacious Ga.ul who wanted 
them. During these fierce struggles, which lasted through the 
dark and early middle ages, this section changed hands re- 



208 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

peatedly, Wiesbaden being several times burned and sacked 
by contending or conquering hordes. It was long the paradise 
of gamblers, and thousands of fortunes have been lost here. 
After a long and fierce struggle here between morality and sin, 
virtue finally triumphed over the gambling tables, modern 
civilization over barbarism, and in 1873 these gambling hells 
were closed, and the palatial halls turned over to the munici- 
pality. 

Most of these beautiful improvements were made by the 
gambling company, who were licensed by the State, and so 
enormous were their ill-gotten gains, that after the property 
had passed into the possession of the Prussian Government, in 
consideration of their license being extended two years, they 
paid 3,000,000 of marks. The city paid 100,000 marks for 
the Curhaus and 47,000 marks for the furniture, but these 
sums represent but a small fraction of that which has been ex- 
pended in embellishing this beautiful place, in rendering this 
one of the most enchantingly beautiful spots on earth. 

The Colonnades consist of two long building porticoes, each 
500 feet in length, open on the sides facing each other, sup- 
ported by long rows of lofty marble columns. There are 
bazars containing almost everything that could tempt visitors 
to buy that which they do not need. These Colonnades are 
separated some 100 yards. The open plat or court between 
them is a most delicately beautiful tapestry garden, with two 
splendid fountains. Nothing of its kind can surpass the beauty 
of this miniature garden, with its fountains and adjacent 
colonnades. All these buildings and flowers are within a large 
park, with numerous ponds, fountains and "flower-beds, and 
all re-embowered with a great variety of beautiful trees and 
shrubs, so that one can walk for miles along its graveled walks 
at noonday without being exposed to the rays of the sun. The 
number of different kinds of trees collected here is truly 



WIESBADEN. 



209 



astonishing. If the intention had been to exhibit in these 
grounds most of the known trees of Europe, they could scarce- 
ly have collected a greater variety. Many of these trees are 
as beautiful as rare. Hundreds of hawthorn trees are inter- 
spersed with elms, beech, flowering chestnut, Hnden, oak, maple, 
willow, ash, sycamore, and other trees both native and exotic. 
The hawthorn is in full blossom and is the gem of the park, its 
only rival being the flowering horse-chestnut. Running all the 
length of the park, lining the sides of Wilhelm Strasse, is an 
avenue, some thirty feet wide, lined on either side with rows of 
old sycamore trees. At the farther end of this avenue, and 
just beyond the colonnades, is the covered way of 350 yards 
leading to the Kochbrunnen. Here a band plays from six to 
eight o'clock in the morning, at which time a great concourse 
of people collect to drink the waters and join in social converse 
between glasses. 

We generally left our pension at 7:30 a. m., walked to the 
springs either through the park or along the Wilhelm Strasse, 
a distance of over a mile, drank two or three glasses of the 
hot, slightly salt water, and returned home and breakfasted at 
9 o'clock, having walked two or three miles. The water is 
not unpleasant to the taste, being a little like weak broth. 
The drinking of these waters together with the use of the hot, 
warm baths are especially serviceable in rheumatism and gout. 
The old gouty Kaiser Wilhelm comes here aunually to drink 
and bathe in these gout-dispelling waters. Well, if he would 
board at our pension he might dispense with drinking the 
waters, as our light, scanty fare would prove specific for gout, 
and yet in despite its scanty fare, the house is full, mostly 
English. I do not know why this is so, except that the house 
is kept by old Enghsh maids, and most English-speaking 
people find it difficult to speak the guttural of the Teuton, 
whose lips are of less service in talking than his throat. And 



2TO SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

then perhaps the light fare assists the waters in relieving the 
plethora produced by too much 'alf and 'alf indulged in by 
the average beef eating Englishman. 

The museum of Antiquities contains some 1,200 specimens, 
many of them of great interest, consisting of relics of prehistoric 
man, primitive tools, weapons, ornaments of horn, stone, bones, 
shells, pottery, found mostly in caves. 

May 2gth. — Drove out with some English ladies to Sonnen- 
berg and Rombeck. At the village of Sonnenberg is an old 
fort in ruins and watch tower built in the twelfth century. The 
old fort is on an eminence in the midst of a narrow valley, strong- 
ly built, and must have been well nigh impregnable. Though 
storm-battered by assaulting armies of the middle ages, and 
over grown with ivy, it is yet strong, fit emblem even now of 
the Teutonic ghost of olden times. From the high, rocky ridge 
beyond Sonnenberg we have a fine view of the most beautiful 
part of the Rhine valley — a long stretch of the river is seen as 
a silver thread winding through the vine-clad valley, bordered 
on either side by castellated hills, the whole country being 
checkered over with towns and villages, making a landscape of 
surpassing loveliness. 

June 4th. — With our English friends, made an excursion to 
Niederwald, the Denkmal or National Monument. We took 
cars some four miles to the river, when taking steamer we ran 
up the Rhine eight or ten miles. Nothing can surpass the 
beauty of this portion of the Rhine, with its shores lined with 
towns, its wide extended plain a continuous orchard and vine- 
yard, and the hill-tops dotted with ruined castles or modern 
villas. 

We ascended the mountain by railroad. This road is about 
a mile long, is of a grade of 30^, being only a little less steep 
than the one by which we ascended Mt. Vesuvius, but of dif- 
ferent construction. The cars on the Vesuvius road were 



WIESBADEN. 211 

drawn up the almost perpendicular side of the mountain by 
means of an endless chain, here they ascend by means of cogs 
placed on a wheel which works in notches in a central rail. 
On the top of the mountain is the splendid monument over- 
looking the majestic Rhine, at a point opposite to " Bingen on 
the Rhine," which was constructed at a cost of $250,000, in 
commemoration of the splendid triumph of the Germans in 
the Franco-German War. On the summit is a collossal bronze 
female figure, richly clothed, representing Germania. On the 
sides are beautiful bronze alto reliefs, representing Kaiser 
Wilhelm surrounded by the kings and princes of Germany, 
together with the most distinguished generals and statesmen 
and persons of Germany. Another side represents German 
soldiers leaving home. Another side represents their glad re- 
turn after their glorious triumphs. It is a beautiful work of 
art, well calculated to gladen the soul of a Teuton or depress 
that of a Frenchman. On the corners are beautiful allegorical 
representations of peace and war. We returned to Wiesbaden 
about sun-down. The excursion was, perhaps, the most de- 
lightful of all those we have made in Europe. 

June ^th. — This is the evening for the exhibition of fire- 
works, and though hardly well enough to be out in the night 
air, the evening was so beautiful, mild, balmy, with a cloudless 
sky, and the occasion offered so much to be seen only here — 
as the Wiesbaden exhibition of fire-works is supposed to ex- 
cell all others in the world, that we yielded to the temptation, 
went out, and certainly were well paid for the fatigue and 
exposure to the night air, which fortunately resulted in no 
mischief. 

The exhibition was in the park at the Cursaal, on the margin 
of the large pond, in the middle of which is the great fountain 
previously mentioned. Numerous colored lights lighted up 
the lake and adjacent parts with strange, weird, changing 



212 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

lights. Now the jet of water was a vast fountain of crimson, 
while the adjacent trees were clothed in silver, every leaf being 
beautiful filigree work. Now the color changed and a vast 
column of liquid silver arose in the middle of the pond, while 
the trees glowed in crimson and purple. Now commenced a 
fierce bombardment on the different sides, or all around the 
lake. Thousands of bright rockets flashed through the air 
exploding with terrific noise, while the whole air was filled with 
falling golden stars. Whole swarms of serpents waged a hideous 
and terrific batde in mid-air, and with a hissing noise charged 
and chased each other. Now a grand and wondrously beau- 
tiful performance of Blondin walking the rope across the chasm 
at Niagara. This was the representation of a man in, or of 
fire, walking on a fiery wheel on a rope of fire, rolling the 
flaming wheel of fire on which he stood, with his feet, running 
across, now backwards, forwards, swaymg to either side as 
though he would fall, balancing with a long flaming pole of 
fire. This wonderful feat lasted perhaps fifteen or twenty 
minutes until the gauze-like, fiery image was consumed, grad- 
ually fading away. 

June 6th. — Left Wiesbaden for the far-famed town of Heid- 
elberg, where we arrived after a four hours run, and put up at 
the Pension Anglais. The road lay along the Rhine valley, 
passing through the quaint old German town of Darmstadt, 
where we made a short halt. Darmstadt is the capital of the 
Grand Duchy of Hessen, and contains some 50,000 inhab- 
itants. Most of the way is through a densely-populated 
country, highly cultivated, with numerous towns and villages, 
with not a few ruined castles crowning the summits of the 
hills. 

HEIDELBERG. 

Jwie yth. — This is a university town — indeed owes all its 
importance to its world-renowned university, which, however, 



HEIDELBERG. 



213 



is not now of so much importance as formerly. The city, of 
25,000 inhabitants, is situated on the west bank oftheNeckar, 
(a small mountain river) some two or three miles from its 
junction with the Rhine. The town is built along the river in 
a narrow defile between mountains, some five or six hundred 
feet in height. 

June 8th. — Took carriage and with an old Heidelberger, 
an Anglo-German lady, drove to and around the Schloss ruins, 
the Schloss Hotel, over the high ridge beyond. From the top of 
this ridge we had a magnificent view of the town and the 
valleys of the Neckar and Rhine." Descended into the valley 
some miles above the town and drove down along a beautiful 
carriage-way, through the rather pretentious Karlsthor, which 
separates Heidelberg from the village of Schlierback. This 
entirely useless and not very artistic gate owes its origin to 
the rather singular fact that the Heidelbergers found an excess 
of money in the treasury and not knowing what to do with it 
built this gate. Modern city treasurers are careful to let no 
like misfortune happen in these days. 

The old castle, which is to the tourist one of the principal 
attractions of Heidelberg, is the largest, and perhaps the most 
interesting, ruin in Germany. It was first built in the thirteenth 
century, and to the old castle was added others by successive 
rulers, until with walls, terraces, towers, gardens, groves and 
shaded walks, it must have been a very fairy-land, and even 
now in its ruins, is impressive, grand, beautiful. This wondrous 
castle with its time-defying granite walls, ten to twenty feet 
thick, the glory and pride of electors, dukes, kings and emper- 
ors, was with the town of Heidelberg stormed, battered and par- 
tially destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, and the tower par- 
tially blown up. Again the French with a Vandal army took and 
blew it up, or rather blew parts of it down, as the walls in their 
massiveness were proof even against gunpowder. Again, after 



214 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

its partial reparation, lightning struck it, .exploded its well-filled 
magazine of powder, and blew down a portion, lifting one-half 
bodily and removing it some twenty feet, where it settled down 
as a divided granite mountain, weighing thousands of tons. 
On the north side the old walls of the palace are still standing, 
storm-scarred, time-worn and ivy-covered, but in a tolerable 
good state of preservation, and evidencing the former splendor 
of the structure. Old linden trees that have witnessed the 
storms of centuries form a dense shade to a lovely graveled 
walk through the old court and gardens. Ivy-covered walls 
and massive rocks, old linden and poplars, covered to their 
summits with ivy, give to these ruins a sombre beauty, scarcely 
anywhere else met with to so great an extent. 

We passed under the Triumphal Arch, erected by Elector 
Frederick V. in honor of his wife Elizabeth, of England, daughter 
of James I., who died here in 1615. Underneath the castle 
are deep cellars, in one of which is the great wine tun, which 
holds 285,000 bottles. It is the largest tun in the world, and 
unlike the palace above it has survived the Vandalism of wars 
and the earthquake shocks of exploding magazines, and stands 
now fast where it was first set up, in a deep vault twenty-five 
feet high. It was first filled November loth, 1752, and has 
been subsequently only twice filled, and has now been empty 
120 years. We passed through these dark, gloomy subterra- 
nean vaults, under arches and by pillars that looked as though 
they had been built to support a world, so massive were they 
in construction. Saw deeper still the darker and more gloomy 
donjon-keep, where many a hapless victim of . tyranny has suf- 
fered cruel Wrong for crimes never committed. With how 
many moans of helpless prisoners are these granite walls 
stereotyped. I could almost fancy they had embodied them- 
selves in living, tangible forms that might yet be seen. Well, 
oppressor and oppressed have long since met at a Supreme 



HEIDELBERG. 



215 



Court, where the royal robes and glittering cohorts of dukes 
and kings protect not against the accusations of their once 
helpless victims. We passed through the botanical garden to 
the concert platz, where we partook of ices and coffee while 
listening to a splendid brass band. We then passed to the 
elevated parapet next the river, from which we had a fine view 
of the city with its churches, the lofty spires of which were fai 
below us, the bright flashing silver stream of the Neckar, the 
wide extended fertile valley of the Rhine, with the long, low range 
of mountains in the distance, the bright hill-sides of the streams, 
the long expanse of the Adenwald's thick, wild forest, which 
extended until lost in the darker foliage of the Black Forest; 
altogether a landscape view that for extent and beauty is 
scarcely surpassed in any section of the world. Passed off 
this to an adjoining grove, where seated on a bench in a thick 
cluster of chestnut trees we listened to the song of blackbirds — 
a thrush that sings much like our mocking-bird — also the 
softer note of the nightingale, until the sun had sunk behind 
the high tower-crowned hills of Heidelberg, leaving all around 
wrapped in the soft silvery shade of early twilight. We were 
all alone, the children with their nurse-maids that had been 
playing around us had gone home. Here and there a visitor 
to the ruins passed by returning to the city. When we de- 
scended along a quiet path that ran along, and under the pro- 
jecting ivy-clad ruins, down the hill to the city. Well, all this 
was somewhat saddened by the reflection that we were old 
and alone in the world, and that we could not have visited this 
place when heart and brain were young and more impressible. 
Attended the surgical clinic at the university, witnessed sev- 
eral clever operations by distinguished professors. Attended 
in the evening lectures at the university. Heard Prof. Fisher, 
the lecturer on Political Economy. He speaks fluently and is 
a man of much ability. The university is a large unpretentious 



2l6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

one-Story building, old and dingy. The lecture rooms are 
small, not well lighted, and furnished with seats placed on the 
floor without being elevated, all on the same plane, looking 
much like the furnishing of an old-fashioned country church or 
school-house. Each bench was capable of holding six or eight 
students, and had a plain plank nailed on the back for writing 
purposes, with another some six or eight inches below this for 
holding books, slates, etc. This apparatus of each bench is 
used by those occupying the bench behind it. Nothing could 
be more rudimentary or ill-adapted to the comfort of the 
pupils. The lecturer occupies a raised platform with a rail- 
ing and desk in front, much like the pulpit in a country meet- 
ing-house. 

There were present at Prof. Fisher's lecture forty or fifty 
young men, from eighteen to twenty-five years of age, a few 
older, most of them thoughtful, attentive students, many of 
them with their note-books taking notes. 

There is another large class of students here, those partic- 
ularly mentioned by Mark Twain as " Club Men." Each club 
is distinguished by its cap. I noticed among these, white caps 
with red bands, green caps and yellow caps. These caps form 
or belong to separate clubs, with Httle or no fellowship with 
caps of another color. These cap men are seen riding in twos 
and fours in fine two-horse carriages through and around the 
city, are met at the concerts, club-rooms, restaurants, beer- 
gardens, cafes, etc. At the castle restaurant there was near us 
a table of white caps with red bands. Not far off another 
table of red caps with white bands. Still another table was 
occupied by green caps, and another table was surrounded by 
yellow caps, all drinking wine, beer, and coffee, and smoking 
pipes, cigars, or cigarettes, and each table had several large 
dogs standing or lying around, and to which were given bread, 
cheese or cake, and I believe in some cases beer. Almost 



HEIDELBERG. 217 

every one of these cap-club men had scars or fresh wounds on 
his face. Many had their faces covered with plasters ; some 
had as many as eight or ten wounds upon their face. One 
spare-built lad I noticed had an ugly scar some two inches in 
length where his cheek had been laid open, doubtless to the 
bone. AH the members of a table politely raised their caps 
when a member of another cap passed, but had no farther com- 
munication with him in public, even though a blood relation. 

Now who and what are these cap men ? They are not 
really students. True they have matriculated and figure on 
the university lists from year to year as students, but do not 
attend lectures. I failed to see one of them at any of the 
lectures either medical or literary, and those I saw in attend- 
ance upon the lectures were singularly free from scars or 
wounds — ^had indeed no right to either, as these badges of 
honor are for club men. 

These young men whom Mark Twain found with so much 
leisure on their hands, are not here for the purpose of study, 
do not attend the lectures, but are the sons of aristocrats and 
men of money, who come here to spend some years of uni- 
versity life in attendance at clubs, gambling, drinking, riding, 
boating and dueling. Those who do not make shipwreck go 
up with their badges of honor, scars, to Berlin, Vienna or Bonn. 
But greatly the larger number, I fear, and certainly many, 
are wrecked, fall by the wayside, succumb to a two or four 
years' life of dissipation with wine and dueling. These scars 
are badges of honor, marking them as heroes, and are evi- 
dently passports to society, to promotion, but even for this 
purpose and with this reward are too often obtained at too 
dear a cost by the wreck of health and contraction of habits of 
dissipation that forbid future usefulness. 

Why is this relic of barbarism still preserved, retained, fos- 
tered or even tolerated at Heidelberg ? Why do the public 



2l8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

authorities, or public opinion permit this savage relic of the 
Feudal or Dark Ages to exist here, to the destruction of mul- 
titudes of young men, Avho if better trained might make val- 
uable citizens. For be it known the fault is not in these young 
men, but with those who foster a custom that encourages, or 
forces them to spend two or three years of their youth in habits, 
if not utterly destructive to their future welfare, at least utterly 
useless, in fighting duels Or be branded as cowards. The only 
possible excuse that could be given for the retention of this 
savage and destructive custom is that it inures them to danger, 
and by making them expert, fearless swordsmen, furnishes a 
class of young men, representing the best families, those hav- 
ing the greatest interest in the State, ready trained and fearless 
of danger, to defend their country in times of need. But this 
excuse, that might have had force at the time the custom 
originated, when the lives of a community, a city or whole 
country might depend upon the personal prowess of a few well- 
trained, fearless, strong men, no longer exists, now that stand- 
ing armies of well-trained officers and men are ever ready to 
defend the State against any foreign invader, while a paid 
pohce secures the individual against personal violence, and 
the enforcement of wise and humane laws throughout the civ- 
ilized world, gives ample security to even the weakest in the 
protection of their persons and property, while the improve- 
ment in the military art has rendered mere brute courage, or 
individual prowess of but httle or no avail. True, the esprit 
de corps of an army is of great moment, but it is as a multitude, 
as an organization it is so, personal, daring, only securing the 
destruction of the individual, and possibly endangering his 
fellows, not his enemies. Witness the Arab hordes, driven off, 
routed, slaughtered, murdered, by a small army of well-disci- 
plined Englishmen, much their inferiors in personal strength, 
or endurance, in bravery as individuals, but invincible as an 
organized army. 



HEIDELBERG. 219 

It is a scandal and disgrace to the nation or people who 
permit or foster such wanton, self-destructive barbarism, and 
shows that these Teutonic peoples, notwithstanding their high 
accomplishment in many things, are really only half-civilized, 
still retaining much of the Vandal, wild boar instincts of their 
savage ancestors. 

Met at the Medical Clinic, Dr. , of Chicago, an accom- 
plished gentleman who is here on a visit to his family, who are 
here for the education of the children ; and, really, if Ameri- 
cans must be educated abroad, which I do not admit — I know 
of no place in Germany preferable to this. The town is neat, 
clean and healthy, the inhabitants moral, sober, peaceable, 
intelligent, and the means of obtaining an education unsur- 
passed by any city in the world. 

The town is Protestant; 13,000 Protestants, 9,000 Catho- 
lics. Luther preached here and the doctrines of the Reforma- 
tion early found credit in this section. One of the largest, 
oldest and finest of the Catholic churches divided so equally 
by one portion professing the new doctrine that a feud arose 
concerning the ownership of the church. The reformers 
claiming it by virtue of their numbers, the Catholics claiming it 
because it was a Catholic church. The excitement grew into 
a bitter and bloody strife, when the happy expedient was 
adopted of building a partition wall across the church. This 
continued several generations, the demon of discord, not dead, 
but slumbering, when one of the electors, himself a Catholic, 
proposed to the Protestants to give up their half and he would 
build them a new church. This they refused to do, perhaps 
sus.pecting his sincerity, when enraged at their obstinacy, he 
had the Protestants expelled, the church and the partition 
wall pulled down. This resulted in a fresh outbreak of the 
feud with increased intensity, insomuch that the Emperor had 
the partition wall again rebuilt, and here it stands at the pres- 



2 20 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

ent day. The mass and mitre on one side, wine and bread on 
the other. AVell, perhaps the devil will hardly see the -vyall, 
finding rich booty on both sides. 

BADEN-BADEN. 

/?i/ie lof/i. — Left Heidelberg for Baden-Baden, where we 
arrived after a run of two hours over a rather interesting, level 
country ; put up at Hotel zum Hirst, a most excellent hotel, 
with warm mineral baths in the house, and a fountain of the 
hot water for drinking, at the door. The rather small town of 
Baden-Baden is situated on the right bank of the small moun- 
tain brook Oos, consists of 12,000 inhabitants. At the upper 
end of the town, on a spur of the mountain is a grand old 
feudal castle, with groves, walks, fountains, etc. It was built 
after the destruction by the French, of the old Schloss, the 
ruins of which in beauty and grandeur, crown the rocky crest 
of a lofty mountain overlooking the town and valley of the Oos. 
The hot springs are also on the right side of the Oos, high up 
on the hill side just under the schloss. But with the exception 
of Frederickshall, a princely bathing establishment, are but 
little used at this point. The main body of hot water being 
carried across the town and, under the Oos to the beautiful 
and level grounds, or the left bank of the brook, at which 
place is the palatial Conversationhaus and the Trinkensalle, 
together with the theater and highly ornamented parks and 
bazars, with their fine wares to tempt visitors. 

These springs, like those of Wiesbaden, were known to the 
Romans, and have been the resort of invalids through all ages. 
The waters have in fact little or no medicinal property, being 
only hot water containing a little, a very little, common salt, 
and are in fact not near so valuable as would be the water of 
the Sweet Spring at Brownsville, Mo., if the waters of this 
spring were drank hot. They are supposed to be especially 



BADEN-BADEN. 221 

beneficial in catarrh of the stomach, mucous membranes of 
throat and bronchi, gout and rheumatism, rather a full list, 
and as nearly all these complaints affect most the wealthy, 
privileged classes, good livers, it is with them a favorite resort. 
Like Wiesbaden, it was also long the resort of gamblers, a 
gambling company licensed by the State, owned it and made 
most of the costly improvements here with the accursed gains 
from their tables. Here many a princely fortune has been 
squandered and many a proud family reduced to poverty and 
want. Here many a new fledged hero of fortune has met the 
tiger and become his victim, not a stone in its costly edifices, 
but should have melted at the anguish these gambling tables 
have caused. But thanks to a higher civilization, these gam- 
bling dens have been closed ; let us hope, forever. 

It it a beautiful place where art and nature have combined 
to make a very Eden, and perhaps no place on earth is more 
lovely and better calculated to inspire a love for this world, 
than the west bank of the Oos from Lisltanthal, to a point 
opposite the Hirst hotel, together with the charms added by 
the adjacent shaded nooks, pleasant walks, drives and sur- 
rounding scenery, 

June 1 6th. — Took carriage and drove to the Alte schloss, 
an old fortress castle of the third century. It through all the 
dark and middle ages belonged to the Margarates, or rulers of 
this country, up to the time of its destruction by the French 
in 1689, during which time it was a palatial stronghold or castle, 
but for 200 years it has remained in ruins, but even in its ruins is 
grand, imposing, indicating what it must have been when the 
proud, old feudal lords, with their mailed knights and retainers 
inhabited it. It is a thousand feet above the town and so 
directly over it, that it hangs from the porphyry brow of the 
rock-crested mountain top, as if watching with its ghost of 
other days the changed scenes below. And, though not per- 



222 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL, 

haps a mile from our hotel and accessible by the finest car- 
riage road in the world, we were an hour or more in reaching 
it in "the carriage. The castle was of immense extent, suffi- 
ciently large, I would suppose, to hold a thousand soldiers 
with dukes and their families, half a score. It was built upon 
and against the precipitous bluff, so that in many places its 
walls were the cliff-rock, in other places I noticed the walls 
were eight and ten feet thick. Foot passengers mount to the 
ruins by winding stone steps, in many places cut in the rock. 
I suppose the lower perpendicular wall is a hundred feet high, 
with a farther descent of hundreds of feet, almost perpendicular 
rocks, with the other sides rendered so inaccessible as to be 
impregnable to all but the modern means of warfare — gun- 
powder and artillery. Indeed without these it is no wonder it 
battled successfully for 1,200 years against the storms of time 
and those more destructive still, human foes. 

The view from its lofty parapets is very fine, extending 
along the winding, picturesque valleys of the Oos and Rhine 
as far as vision extends. We took refreshments at the cafe 
kept, here and returned by a more circuitous rout along the 
dimly, darkly, wooded hillside to our hotel, having passed a 
most dehghtful morning. Next day with our friends drove out 
five miles through the densely wooded portion of the Black 
Forest, to Yager Haus, a beautiful sylvan retreat, where long a 
royal hunting club held its headquarters. Many a high revel 
has been held here, but now it is only a pleasant resort, with 
neat cafe. The view from this point is also very fine, the vast 
expanse of the Rhine valley, with here and there a flash of the 
silver stream, stretches away to andbeyond Strasburg, we could 
from here distinctly see the dome of the Strasburg cathedral. 

On the way to the Yager Haus we passed some children — 
ittle girls — gathering ripe huckelberries, (whortleberries) grow- 
ing on low bushes, just as we have seen them at home when 



FREYBURG. 223 

we were children. We stopped the carriage to gather some, 
and bought a pint or more from a little girl who had a quart 
mug nearly full, we gave her ten pfennings, two and a half cents, 
which was twice as much as she expected, and for which she 
would gladly have given us the contents of the mug. We only 
permitted her to give us half, and gave her an additional ten 
pfennings, in all five cents. It was truly pleasant and worth 
far more than the berries, to see how her face brightened, she 
had perhaps seldom had so much money, and felt rich, indeed 
almost burdened with treasure. Well, after all, riches are only 
relative, and I remember when a child, I too would have felt 
that this was a large sum. We had the berries for supper, and 
thus far returned back in life many years. 

FREYBURG. 

June igth. — Left Baden-Baden for Freyburg, where we 
arrived after a run of three hours, and stopped at the pension 
Utz. This pension was not excellent but we were induced to 
stop at it, as we were induced at some others, not the best, 
on account of its being the resort of English-speaking tourists, 
among them a very pleasant Irish family with whom we were 
acquainted. The road from Baden here is through the Black 
Forest, along the Rhine valley which is highly cultivated, while 
the hills and adjacent highlands are clothed in a primeval pine 
forest, the dark foliage of which throw their sombre, melancholy 
shadows across the winding river. 

Freyburg is a manufacturing town of 36,000 inhabitants, 
mostly Catholics, and is situated in the midst of the Black 
Forest, on a small mountain stream, the Dreisam, in an 
amphitheatre of pine clad hills. It is an old German town. 
Many of the old houses, with their high gabled roofs and 
dormer windows, date back through the middle ages. Some 
of the modern houses are very fine. It is the seat of a uni- 



2 24 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

versity, many of whose professors have a European reputation. 
There are some 800 students here, many of them medical, 
with a large hospital, to which the great reputation of the 
medical professors in the university bring patients from a 
distance, giving it clinical advantages greatly beyond what 
might be expected from so small a town. It is a pleasant place 
to spend a few days. Its cathedral dates back to the thirteenth 
century, and is a large Gothic structure of some considerable 
beauty. It is ornamented inside and out with hundreds of 
statues cut out of old red sandstone, of Christ, Madonnas, 
apostles and saints, male and female, numerous bas and alto 
reliefs, sometimes rudely carved, and many of them stricking- 
ly archaic. These are mixed up, interspersed with numerous 
images of animals, many of them nondescript, but really not 
more so than many of the saints. But even this very archaic 
character really heightens their beauty, as it gives the life expres- 
sion of a people just emerging from the night of the dark ages. 

The semi-barbaric customs of the university clubs are in 
full force here. The students, as at Heidelberg, are divided 
into red, white and yellow caps, and most of them have their 
faces badly scarred from dueling. These scars, like the 
Mohawk's scalps, are regarded as badges of honor, constitute 
their possessors heroes. Cultivated or learned such people may 
be, refined they certainly are not, retaining to the latter part of 
the nineteenth century savage customs not tolerated in en- 
lightened England, France or America. 

The twenty-first of the present month was the seventieth 
anniversary of the Red Caps, and was celebrated much after 
the style of their barbaric ancestors. The principal event was 
the drinking and singing feast at the hall during the evening 
which, being invited, I attended. Long tables, four in number, 
extending the length of the hall, each table accommodating 
twenty-five or thirty guests, all members of the club and wear- 



FREYBURG. 



225 



ing red caps. Each plate was furnished with a glass. Six or 
eight officers sat at the end of the tables. These were furnish- 
ed with long swords which were laid on the table in front of 
them. With these swords the exercises were announced by 
striking with them three loud raps upon the table, when all 
drank and sang a song, or sung a song and drank, or the band 
played some patriotic air or love song, when all drank. A few 
clever speeches were made at the conclusion of each, loud 
clanging of the swords announced another drink. Some of 
those present had been members of the club in their university 
days. These had on the red cap, and each of them, besides 
drinking with the others, of all the regular and irregular drinks, 
had in addition, to drink a mug of beer for each year he had 
been a member, and as many of these were men of middle age 
and a few old men, it necessitated, in some cases the drinking 
of twenty or thirty glasses in addition to the regular drinks. 
At the conclusion of each song and drink the glasses were 
brought down on the table with a loud and rather rhythmical 
sound. The entertainment, while partaking so much of bar- 
baric Teutonic times, was really not otherwise objectionable, but 
quite enjoyable. The singing being excellent, the speeches good, 
and the behavior of the young men much more orderly and 
much less boisterous than would have been on a like occasion 
in America. These red caps being so accustomed to full 
potations of beer, that even the enormous quantity of forty or 
fifty glasses that the old members had to drink, had but little 
effect upon them. 

June 2jrd. — Drove out with some English ladies to Hotel 
Sternen, a post station fourteen miles from Freyburg. The 
road leads through the Schwaberthom, running up the beauti- 
ful fertile and highly cultivated valley of the Dreisam. For the 
first eight or ten miles the valley is broad, with fine crops of 
hay, rye and wheat. I never saw better crops than here, no 



226 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

not even in the Mississippi valley. The valley is at first two 
or three miles broad, bordered by lofty hills, which in some 
places are cultivated quite to their summits, others too steep or 
rocky for cultivation are covered by dense forests of dark pines, 
interspersed in some places with the lighter colored but equally 
dense birch and linden. Several old ruins are seen on the 
rocky crests, while numerous villages dot the valley or hill-sides. 
Many quaint old German barn-like structures, containing the 
family, together with the horses, cattle, hogs, poultry, dogs, farm 
implements, wagons^ carts, ploughs, hoes, rakes and store of 
winter wood are seen along the road-side. Twelve miles out 
the valley suddenly contracts and we enter a narrow gorge, 
called the Hellenpass or vale of hell ; walls of ragged granite 
rise on either side hundreds of feet in peipendicular frowning 
buttresses, overhanging, in some places the road. At the 
narrowest part of this gorge, where the walls some 200 feet 
overhead are only separated a hundred yards, is the Hirschen- 
sprung. upon a lofty projecting point of which is the statue or 
wooden image of a stag with immence branching horns. At 
this point legend informs us, a monstrous stag of a size and 
strength only known to days of yore, when Woden and his 
followers were wont to visit this forest, hard pressed by a 
Teutonic king and his pack of dogs, also of monstrous size 
and strength, leaped the chasm and alighted on the rocky cliff 
beyond. It is so pleasant to believe these old legends; that I 
never permit myself to doubt them. While musing on the feat 
of this old Teutonic stag and comparing it with a Hke statue 
and similar feat of a hard pressed stag at Carlsbad, we scarce- 
ly doubted the truth of both legends, but then stags and dogs 
as well as men have degenerated since that day. 

We drove along the wild gorge until the very considerable 
stream of the Freidsam became a small branch, still wild as its 
mountain home, to the post station, Hotel Sternen (star), where 



FREYBURG. 2 27 

we took dinner, and after resting an hour, returned to the city 
at 8 o'clock p. M., having been absent seven hours. The drive 
was most enjoyable and the road, one of the finest in the world, 
was first built by the Austrian Government in 1770. Shortly 
after its construction, the princess Maria- Antoinette, drove along 
it on her way to France, to wed the Dauphin, afterwards Louis 
XVL Unfortunate princess, it was her last view of fatherland, 
a fatal trip, big with ghastly horrors. She and her husband 
were imprisoned, insulted by the blood-thirsty, hooting mob 
and beheaded by the Jacobins. How strange ! I have here in 
the room where I am writing this, just after returning from 
this ride, a fine steel engraving of this lovely woman, princess, 
queen and her family in prison, guarded by brutal, drunken 
soldiers, and from which she went to the scaffold a few days 
afterward. How strange are the vicissitudes of life, from the 
palace to the gaol, to the scaffold where her headless body 
was scoffed at by an insane rabble. But far be it from me to 
suppose this rabble had no cause of complaint against its 
besotted rulers, and if the innocent suffered with the guilty, it 
was what too often happens. The French people had been so 
wronged, insulted, robbed, trodden down, oppressed by 
kings and priests, that we cannot wonder at their excesses 
when once in power. This drive was in the very heart of the 
Black Forest, with its wild forest-clad hills and dales, seeming- 
ly big with unseen dangers, from robbers, goblins, headless 
giants and wild beasts, but really containing only peaceful, 
industrious, honest men and women and playful fair-haired 
children. 

It was in the midst of hay-making, and a few men with troops 
of brawny peasant-women were busy in the meadows. These 
peasant-women in this Black Forest have a peculiar build — a 
breadth of shoulders, waist and hips I have nowhere else seen, 
nor do I befieve such exist anywhere else. They are in fact a 



2 28 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

different style or race of women from all others, sni generis. 
Almost all of these women are peculiarly formed — not de- 
formed, but on the contrary made to be the mothers of a race 
of giants. And while the mountain peasant men are large, 
well-formed, I wonder that they are not larger than they are— - 
indeed, why they are not giants. It must be that the almost 
constant devastating wars in which these people have been 
engaged, either in self-defence or for conquest, by calling for 
the largest, tallest men to supply the wants of their armies, have 
kept down the standard of these, while the female has retained 
the characteristics of their grandmother. This like condition, 
and as the result of the cause suggested, is notably the case in 
Italy, where the women as a class are larger and better pro- 
portioned than the men, and it is a fact well known that the 
destructive wars of Napoleon I., who called out by conscrip- 
tion or otherwise, the tallest Frenchmen to constitute, fill up, 
his armies, has reduced the miUtary standard from five feet ten 
inches to five feet eight inches, reducmg the average height of 
Frenchmen two inches. The same laws that apply to other 
animals, and even vegetables, apply to man, he forms no ex- 
ception, by virtue of his position as man. 

Now if by a process of selection, either natural or artificial, 
only the largest and tallest of these mountaineers were married 
with the most brawny of these peasant women, a race of giants 
might be produced, in which Maximilians, the ancient Ger- 
man eight feet tall, and who could pull a cart that an ox could 
not move, and who, by his Herculean exploits, so won upon 
the Roman army that they made this ignorant barbarian Em- 
peror, would be common with this people. 

Visited the large, well-apportioned city hospital ; attended 
interesting clinics of learned professors ; witnessed several im- 
portant operations. The great ability of some of these pro- 
fessors with the ample clinical material at their disposals, con- 



BASLE. 229 

stitutes Freyburg an important point for medical education. 
A large number of attentive medical students were in attend- 
ance at the clinics. None of their faces were scarred. They 
did not belong to the cap men, their attendance here meant 
business. 

June 26th — Arose early in the morning and ascended the 
Schlossberg, returning to breakfast — a walk of three or four 
miles. From the top of the Berg we had an extended view of 
the valley, and so densely populated is the country that from 
where I sat I could count seventeen towns of from two to six 
thousand inhabitants each. The- town was spread out as a 
map nearly immediately beneath me. I could almost have 
counted the houses. The old Clock Tower, a quaint struct- 
ure ; the Munster, with its lofty turrets, that have looked down 
upon the stirring scenes of struggling hosts for a thousand 
years ; the quaint old houses with their sharp gables, dormer 
windows, red-tiled roofs, and time-worn walls, from which 
issued many a bold crusader to do battle against the Turk for 
the possession of the holy sepulchre ; old churches and quaint 
moss-covered structures, at whose portals the tooth of time 
had been busy for half a thousand years ; all were distinctly 
seen as in a picture, all being tinted by the golden rays of an 
early June morning, that reflected every light and shadow of 
these old structures with great beauty and distinctness. I re- 
mained here quite alone an hour or more, only disturbed by 
an occasional early visitor to the Berg, viewing the historical 
panorama spread out before me, and whose strange interest- 
ing ruins mixed in fantastic forms with the realities of other 
days, until mediaeval manners and customs stood out in full 
dress from their quaint niches and battle-scarred turrets. 

BASLE. 

At 8 o'clock A. M.,took leave of our kind-hearted Irish friends, 
and took the train for Bale, (EngHsh) Basle, (French) Basel, 



230 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

(German), an important town in Switzerland, where we arrived 
after a run of five hours, and stopped at the Hotel Trois Rois 
— Three Kings, an excellent hotel standing immediately on the 
left bank of the Rhine, from the waters of which, like the palaces 
on the Grand Canal in Venice, it seems to arise, as its river 
wall is the walled bank of the Rhine. Took carriage and 
drove over the city, visiting the Munster, an old cathedral, the 
lofty, time-worn parapets of which stand out as beacon-lights 
from the gleam of the dark ages, and whose storm-battered 
walls of old red sandstone have witnessed the rise and fall of 
empires. Many of the houses are 600 and 800 years old, 
bringing us by and with their queer old fashioned construction 
in contact with the mediaeval ages. Customs here as well as 
the houses have scarcely felt the impress of the nineteenth 
century. 

FALLS OF THE RHINE. 

June 2yth. — Left Basle at 10:30 a. m. for Neuhausen, or 
Falls of the Rhine, sixty-one miles, where we arrived at 
1:30 p. M. 

The weather was warm, the cars somewhat crowded, the 
train moved slowly, rendering the trip rather tedious and un- 
comfortable. The road was most of the way along, or near, 
the rapidly flowing Rhine, which here is bordered on either 
side by lofty spurs of the Black Forest. The valley is in part 
very fertile and all the way highly cultivated, presenting with 
its little farms with stone walls or trimmed hedges the appear- 
ance of beautiful landscape gardening, which the topography 
of the country renders highly picturesque. The whole country 
is so densely populated that four or five towns and villages are 
sometimes in sight at the same time. The hill-sides, where 
not too steep and rocky, are planted in vines to their summits, 
while the dark pine forests covering those not cultivated give 
to them that dark, sombre appearance peculiar to the Black 
Forest. 



FALLS OF THE RHINE. 23I 

The rapidly flowing river grows ever quicker as it hurries on, 
until at Shaufhausen, some two miles above the falls, the 
vis a fronte oi \k\& falling waters is seen in its becoming more 
narrow, with a marked fall in its surface, while the waters, 
dragged on with an irresistible force, are lashed to foam long 
before reaching Neuhausen. 

Above this boiling mass of waters, some half a mile above 
the main fall, on a projecting rock, hangs the old Schloss. a 
monastery of the fourteenth century, but long since deserted 
by the monks. But the spirit of meekness of the order lingers 
in its deserted halls, as if in communion with the wild spirit of 
the waters, whose angry turbulence it would still. From the 
old monastery hall, steps descend into a cavernous vault deep 
below. In this cavern passing a spring of fresh water, we 
step out onto a piazza quite against the surging 
billows, the wild rush and roar of which are grand, sublime, 
awe-mspiring. The rock trembles at the shock, the head grows 
dizzy and the heart faint at the immediate presence of this 
stupendous force of nature. The Schloss is now used as a 
museum and picture gallery. Many beautiful works in carved 
wood and inlaid tables, cabinets, etc., of Swiss workmanship, 
are kept for sale here. Some excellent modern paintmgs, with 
a few old paintings of but little merit are in the halls. It is 
approached from Neuhausen by a railroad bridge which spans 
the angry flood at this point. 

Upon inquiry, whether man or beast had ever passed over 
these falls and lived, I was told that several bold swimmers 
and many animals had been caught by the draw of the waters 
at and above this point, and were dashed to death against the 
hidden boulders or drowned in the billows, only one instance 
was known of any animal having passed over the falls alive, and 
this was an old, vicious and worthless dog, whose owner de- 
termined to destroy him, and threw him in the rapids above the 



232 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Schloss, v/here he passed over the falls without injury, swam 
ashore and returned home to torment his owner. 

We stopped at the palatial Hotel Schweizerhof, which is 
situated directly in front of the falls, on the crest of a hill 220 
feet above the river. We sa,t for hours upon the spacious 
piazza, where we had taken dinner, listening to the deafening 
roar, and w^atching the rushing maddened waters as, lashed to 
foam and spray, they plunged over boulders, and dashed against 
torn granite columns in their onward leap and thundering fall 
into the boiling caldron, deep below. Late in the evening we 
descended the hill along a graveled, shady, winding path to 
the edge of the water, where resting upon a bench beneath a 
fragrant and wide spreading linden, with the eddying currents 
of the angry whirlpool at our feet, and clouds of spray above 
and around us, we remained long at the very foot of the 
cataract, watching the changing colors of its iridescent sea 
foam, and ever changing clouds of spray that, wreathed in 
fantastic forms, hung like winged spirits around us, and formed 
rainbow colonnades above the foaming caldron mass of falling 
waters, whose deafening thunders shook the solid earth 
beneath our feet ; while nature, as if in symphony with the 
maddened spirit of the river, returned in audible echo from 
caverned hill-side and distant mountain top the trembling 
sound. 

The moon was in its full, and just as the sun was setting 
behind the western hills its broad-faced disc was coming up 
above the long line of distant Alpine mountains that lift their 
snow-capped summits above the eastern vale, with its rays 
falling full upon the winding river, turning its foaming waters 
into a stream of molten silver, and its spray into clouds of 
sparkling silver lace. 

'Tis midnight, the great bell upon Shauf hausen's cathedral 
has just tolled twelve, and the sentinel from the lofty parapets 



FALLS OF THE RHINE. 233 

of Munoth's Watch Tower cried, " All is well." The lights 
have gone out and all human voices are hushed or drowned by 
the deafening roar of these noisy waters. The full-orbed moon 
hangs now directly over the falls, giving, by its soft rays, a more 
weird appearance to the wreaths of spray that hang like 
spectres of the night above the foaming waters. Silent, alone 
I sat upon the lofty balcony of our room, watching the chang- 
ing sheen of this molten silver glory, and listening to its ceaseless, 
deafening thunders, that starde even the dull ear of night, until 
oppressed by the tangible, audible spirit that was over and 
round about me, in very helplessness I cried to the Rhine god, 
to hush these ceaseless, weary wailings. Why I asked, disturb 
thou the slumbers of men? Know you not that man is of more 
importance, mightier far than thou? When from the midst of 
the foaming waters came a voice ; saying, 

" Since time began, through ages all 

Hushed have been my thunders never, 
While nations rise and kingdoms fall 
Wailing, I flow on forever. 

" My palace hall is ocean's wall, 

Its floor is strewn with dead men's bones, 
With crystals, pearls and gems, and all 
Its structures are of precious stones. 

" Proud cities perish, temples fall, 

Mortals' works are stable never; 
To crumbling ruins perish all, 
I live from, and to, forever. 

" The might of man lasts but a day, 
His aid nor care ask I never, 
When he and his have passed away, 
Murmur on shall I forever. 

" The first of Night and Chaos born 
With trident I rule the ocean, 
My spirit builds the cloud and storm, 
Changing forms and modes of motion. 



234 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

*' Cloud-driving Jove his bolts of war 
That startle earth, air and heaven, 
Borrows from my o'erflowing store, 
In Vulcan's forge newly riven. 

" My name is Neptune, god of sea, 
Of this and every river, 
All nymphs and sea-gods own my sway 
From Ganges to Guadalquivir." 

Enchanted with this place, its flower-gardens, its cool shaded 
walks, its fragrant bowers, embossed with woodbines, honey- 
suckles and climbing roses, its forest glens where nightingales, 
forgetful that it was day, filled the groves with sweetest song, 
with its picturesque landscape of hill and dale, dark pine-cov- 
ered mountain-tops, cultivated hill-sides and vine-clad valleys, 
we were loth to leave, and lingered here yet another day, bask- 
ing in the Arcadian loveliness of this earthly Eden, where 

Swift as our thoughts the days come on to stay, 
But fanned by gentle breezeSj made, poets say, 
By angels' wings, pass quite as soon away. 



ZURICH. 

June 2gfh. — Left for Ziirich, where we arrived after a run 
of two hours. After dinner drove over the city. Visited the 
academy, hospital, cemetery, etc. From the eminence above 
the town we had a fine view of the city, lake and distant snow- 
capped Alps. Ziirich is principally distinguished for its silk 
manufactories. Left Ziirich in the evening for Lucerne. 
Arrived at 5 p. m. and put up at the Pension Hotel New 
Schweitzerhof, located high up on the hill-side overlooking the 
city and lake of Lucerne, with the lofty storm-engendering 
Pilatus to the right, and the Rigi on the left, with a long 
snow-clad range of Alps in front, forming a panorama wild 
rugged, grand and beautiful. 



LUCERNE. 235 

LUCERNE. 

Lucerne, the capital of the canton of Lucerne, is an old 
town of 20,000 inhabitants, situated on either side of the clear, 
bold lake river Reuss, which issues from the lake at this point 
in a rapid current. The city is rendered picturesque both by 
its construction and its old walls and watch-towers, one of 
which is in the middle of the Reuss, placed here as a point of 
defense, also by its quaint old covered bridges, three or four 
hundred years old, and which with the new iron bridge serve 
to connect the two parts of the town. These bridges are orna- 
mented with paintings of the" Middle Ages. One of these 
Kaltenbruck contains 150 paintings, illustrating ecclesiastical 
and historical subjects. The other is ornamented with quaint 
old paintings, reminding us of the Campo Santo at Pisa, called 
the " Dance of Death." An object of far more beauty, and 
one of which the Lucerners are justly proud, and which no 
tourist will fail to see, is the colossal statue of a couchant lion 
cut on the face of a sandstone cliff. This beautiful work of 
art is intended to commemorate the brave- and desperate re- 
sistance the Swiss guards made against the attack upon the 
palace at Versailles, which this mere handful of Swiss guards 
defended against a thousand times their number, and would 
have successfully defended Louis XVL, the -queen and royal 
family, but for the cowardice or ill-conceived advice of his 
counsellors. In this fearfully unequal combat they stood as a 
living iron wall against the fierce assaults of the enraged and 
ever-increasing mob. As their comrades fell, the lines closed 
in to prevent a breach. The palace hall was full of their dead 
and dying, and its floor shoe-deep in blood, but not a man was 
dismayed or faltered in his duty to God and the king. Al- 
ready the mob were driven out, and in despair, when the 
guards were ordered to desist, and lay down their arms, in the 
vain hope that the assailants would withdraw. But, as might 



236 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

have been expected, the mob were only maddened by the 
withdrawal of resistance, broke into the palace, put the re- 
mainder of the now defenceless guards to death, and took the 
unfortunate king and queen prisoners. The lion is resting his 
paws on the French flag, in his dying moments attempting to 
defend it. A large wound in his side is represented, showing 
that the defence only ceased with life. iVt this point also are 
the beautiful, interesting and instructive Glacier Mills, which we 
shall refer to in describing the Rigi. 

But it is not Lucerne itself, so much as its surroundings, 
that constitutes this place an important point to the tourist. 
These are indeed beautiful, grand, imposing, as we are here in 
the heart of Switzerland, with its crystal lakes and wild, snow- 
clad mountains and fields of glacier ice. First we have here 
the beautiful Lake Lucerne, which, with its connecting lakes 
extends into four cantons, and is perhaps the prettiest lake in 
Switzerland, with its rugged mountains rising in the distance to 
the region of perpetual snows, and which are brought into 
panoramic view by ascending the two more immediately access- 
ible mountain heights that tower over Lucerne, the Rigi and 
Pilatus. 

RIGI KULM. 

The Rigi is ascended by means of a railroad, to reach 
which we take steamer at Lucerne and run across the lake to 
Visnau, situated at the foot of the mountain. The road runs 
up the side of the mountain to its loftiest summit. This road 
is constructed with a third rail running through the middle, in 
which runs a cog-wheel, dips through tunnels, spans, by means 
of gossamer bridges, yawning chasms and hugs the cliffs on 
the edge of frightful precipices overhanging the unmeasured 
depths below. But so solid is its construction, and so careful 
the management that we feel assured, while the enchanting 
scenery so captivates us that we forget all danger and find 



LUCERNE. 237 

ourselves placidly contemplating the quiet lake thousands of 
feet directly under us, and calculating the time required to 
reach it should the wheels miss the rail only a few inches. 

July 4th, 188^. — We had been some time at Lucerne, and 
had determined to spend this, our national birthday and night, 
on the Rigi. The morning had been dark and stormy, and 
our kind host and hostess warned us against going, as we 
would be unable to see anything on account of the mists and 
fog which not seldom obscure the vision on these mountain 
heights, and pointed us to Pilatus, whose top and sides were 
covered with threatening mists and darkening storm-clouds, 
from whose depths issued deep-toned bellowing thunders, in 
confirmation of their prophecy. But not having the respect for 
Pilatus as a weather-guage for all this section, known to and 
felt by all true Swiss, in despite these warnings, we left our 
pension, determined to spend the night of the 4th in or above 
the clouds, and, as usual, fortune favored the brave, and we 
arrived at the Hotel Rigi Kulm an hour before sunset. 
Scarcely were we half-way up the mountain, when the clouds 
cleared away before a brisk northwest wind, and we had a 
serene, cloudless sky with a glorious sunset. Watched from 
these lofty heights the god of day as he mantled himself in a 
golden glory and sank behind the far-off snow-crested Alps, 
casting back ■ an Alpine afterglow, that, as illuminated 
shadows from his royal robes, lighted up hill and dale with a 
soft silver light, known only to these Alpine regions. His set- 
ting well became the glory of a god. 

We entered the hotel and drank at supper a glass of spark- 
ling Swiss champagne in remembrance of fatherland, and a 
health to those we had left behind us. At half past three 
o'clock, we were aroused by the sound of the Swiss horn 
that rang through hall and corridors with much the soft musi- 
cal cadence that did the long cracked tin horn with which the 



238 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Stage driver announced his coming into the village when I was 
a boy. We were quickly dressed and out on the parapet, 
the brow of an almost perpendicular cliff that towered a mile 
above the vale below, to witness the sun lift his magnified 
disc from behind the distant serrated snow-capped Alps, light- 
ing up with a sea of golden glory this vast range of snow- 
crowned Alps. Grandest among these mountain giants were 
Jungfrau, Finesterhorn and Titlis, that glowed in their sil- 
ver mantles of eternal virgin snow, while the vast fields of 
glacier ice sparkled as seas of Kquid silver. Far as vision 
could extend in a cloudless sky, Alps arose around, beyc^nd 
and above Alps in a white, serrated line around us, embracing 
the far off Jura Alps, whose lofty summits were seen to pierce 
the very heavens as they blended with the distant horizon. 
The scene was impressive, grand, awe-inspiring, overwhelming 
us with the magnitude of this snow-mantled range of moun- 
tains, while the rarified air, aided by our lofty position, gave 
an extent to vision that seemed to embrace half the great 
globe. We stood here 6,000 feet above the sea, watching this 
gorgeous, ever changing scene, the home of mountain terrors, 
until the sun was an hour high. Enchanted by this glorious 
vision, we stood on the parapet from whence the lakes and 
cities and farms of the valley were dwindled into ponds, clus- 
ters of play-houses and tiny gardens, when the scene below 
us changed, and such a change ! At first the lake seemed 
lifted up to near where we stood, and covered with transparent 
sheets of granulated ice, looking like frost-work on a window- 
pane, and this was so earnest, real, that I called the attention 
of several persons near us, who saw it much as we did — now 
spectre form spread their immense snowy wings and rose up 
near us, changing form, now stopping, now springing up in 
surging billows, until towns and lakes and farms disappeared 
in a thick fog, which hid all below us in a mantle of night. 



LUCERNE. 239 

which rolled in fleecy clouds at our very feet, while all was 
clear, bright, serene above and around us. 

After breakfast, we started out over the summit; saw a num- 
ber of chamois and other Alpine animals that were kept in a 
small menagerie here. Viewed with glasses and marked out 
as if on a map, the distant mountain peaks. 

The Rigi Kulm, like nearly all these Swiss mountains, when 
not covered with perpetual snow, is clothed to its summit with 
green verdure. Even far above the timber line, these beauti- 
ful mountains are covered with rich pastures. Thousands of 
sheep and fat cattle pasture upon the sides and very summit 
of the Rigi. We noticed droves of small, agile Jersey cows 
and calves around the Rigi hotel, 6,000 feet above the sea. 
Not only are these lofty peaks and mountain sides clothed in 
richest grasses, but thousands of bright flowers make them 
very flower gardens. This peculiarity, nowhere else to the 
same extent met with, gives to the mountains of Switzerland, 
much of their irresistible charm. How different from the 
dreary, monotonous, sombre appearance of the hills of Scot- 
land, where from base to summit they are clothed in the 
dreariness of peat bogs, whose eternal steriHty corresponds 
with their forbidding, gloomy appearance. 

A peculiarity of the Rigi that I have scarcely seen men- 
tioned, is the entire mass of the mountam, as seen in its perpen- 
dicular walls of from two to four thousand feet, in its project- 
ing peaks, in the sides of the tunnel and railroad cuts, is com- 
posed of cobble-stones and water-worn pebbles, cemented 
together with lime and clay. Millions of tons of these smooth 
water-worn pebbles and boulders are here piled up into a 
mighty mountain mass 6,000 feet high. Where did they come 
from, and how were they made, and by what almighty force 
were they piled up here ? ' The stones out of which they were 
made must have been brought here and poHshed by some 



240 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Stupendous force or forces acting through measureless ages. 
Strange to say, the mills in which some of these stones might 
nave been manufactured, exist here in number and perfection, 
found nowhere else. On the surface of a hard granite rock at 
Lucerne, some thirty of these mills of various sizes and per- 
fection are seen. Many of them are like hominy mortars, 
some as small as druggist mortars, others of great size ; one 
twenty-five feet wide and thirty feet deep. All of these have 
one or more cobble-stones lying at their bottom. These 
stones vary in size, from a cannon-ball to that of a flour bar- 
rel. 

That these stones and the mills bear in some way the rela- 
tion of cause and effect, that is, that these stones have been 
rounded in the mills and at the same time have made the 
mills, there can be no doubt, but how? Glacier action has 
been invoked to account for this. But millions of years, with 
millions of such mills would scarcely suffice to account for, or 
make the amount of artificially rounded stones found here. 
And then how were they piled up into this mountain ? Cer- 
tainly glaciers could not have done this as their action is to 
smoothe down, not to heap up. In fact, glacier action in 
manufacturing these stones, like the Darwinian theory of 
" Natural selection and survival of the fittest " having formed 
the present genera and species of animals and plants, is 
accepted because it to some extent accounts for how these 
things may have been produced without proving that they 
were thus formed. 

PILATUS. 

The other mountain, Pilatus, is a bold, torn, rugged moun- 
tain, almost isolated from the Alpine chain. It stands as a 
sentinel to watch and guard, to catch and to intensify, a labo- 
ratory to manufacture the storms of this entire section, and 
serves as a barometer, or storm-gauge for the people who con- 
sult this mountain for their weather chart. 



LUCERNE. 241 

Pilatus is 7,000 feet at its summit above the sea, and yet is 
not covered with perpetual snow, though snow falls upon it 
every few days during the summer, snow covered its sides and 
top yesterday, July 3rd. A hotel is situated near its summit, 
standing at the base of almost inaccessible torn granite 
columns that rise as needles, 200 or 300 feet above its rugged 
crest. At the base of these is a deep lake, through whose 
sluggish ill-omened waters the plummet falls to the cavernous 
depths far below. Tradition informs us that Pontius Pilate, when 
driven out of Judea, mad at life's history and in remorse for 
the part he had enacted in the scourging and death of Christ, 
came here and dfowned himself in this lake. And we are 
assured by reliable visitors to these forbidding heights, that of 
dark, stormy nights, his unquiet spirit disturbs its waters, while 
strange wailings are heard and strange phantom lights are seen 
to play upon its unquiet waters. Certain it is, this mountain 
has a bad name and no peasant passes its dark shadows, even 
in midday, without crossing himself. 

It is said to be the home of the cloud-compelling Jove, 
who, mad at the misfortunes of his favorite Greece, and dis- 
gusted by the frequent visits of the bold mountain-climber, 
left Mount Olympus two thousand years ago, and builded here 
his throne, and here forms clouds and storms surcharged with 
thunderbolts newly riven, and drives them against the affright- 
ed giants of this entire Alpine region. Many conjectures 
have been made why all the storms of this part of Switzerland 
originate in or around the granite riven crest ot Pilatus, but 
none have been deemed satisfactory by the inhabitants except 
that which makes it the throne of the storm god, or the home 
of the evil spirit of Pontius Pilate. It is not so great a favor- 
ite with the tourist as the Rigi, not alone on account of the 
difficulty of ascent, but also, because, though 1,000 feet higher 
than the Rigi, we seldom obtain so good a view, as it is most 



242 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

generally more or less clothed with mists or clouds. When, 
however, these are not present, the view is truly grand, well 
repaying the toil of its ascent. 

THE BRUNER PASS. 

July yth. — Left Lucerne at lo a. m., for Interlaken. The 
first twelve miles to Alpnach is by boat across Lake Lucerne. 
From Alpnach to Brienz, twenty-five miles is by diligence, 
from Brienz to Literlaken by steamers. 

The route by steamer across Lake Lucerne is rendered in- 
teresting, both by the beauty of the lake and high, perpendicu- 
lar, pictures(iue wall of scarred granite or scarcely less abrupt 
walls of cobble stones, that by diligence from Lake Lucerne 
to Brienz is so highly interesting as to cause us to forget the 
fatigue, and become oblivious to all save its surpassingly beau- 
tiful scenery — deep chasms, beautiful, wild mountain glens, 
flashing water falls and lofty Alpine peaks covered with eternal 
snows. From the summit of this pass is seen a silver stream 
of water issuing from beneath, or between the overhanging 
rock, which falls a thousand feet or more into a deep chasm, un- 
Hghted by the rays of even a noon-day sun. Yet, though a 
large stream of water, the mountain trembles not at its fall, as 
long ere it reaches its lowest depth it is dissolved into clouds 
of silver spray, light and lovely as the gossamer veil that hides 
the face of the blushing bride at the altar, and like the unseen 
clouds that too often hang around the bridal altar, are seen 
not by the curious world, but gathered to themselves, flow on 
and on to the gathering again of broken ties in the far off" lake, 
whose gathered waters tell not of the storms through which 
they have passed. Four thousand feet below us is seen the 
sheen of Lake Brienz. 

This lake is of a light soapstone color, caused by the snow 
and ice just melted from and beneath glaciers, with a great 



INTERLAKEN. 243 

quantity of air entangled in its waters, and this milky color of 
the lake is continued in the river, flowing from it along the 
west side of the Interlaken valley to Lake Thun. At Brienz 
we take steamer for Interlaken, passing within sight of the 
beautiful waterfall of Geisback, thought to be the most beau- 
tiful waterfall in all Switzerland. A hotel is situated on the 
lofty, almost inaccessible mountain top, and the cataract lighted 
up of nights by a calcium light. Some of the passengers landed 
here to visit this, but we were satiated with wild scenery, and 
continued on to Interlaken, putting up at the fine Hotel 
Beaurivage. 

INTERLAKEN. 

Interlaken is a narrow valley enclosed between high moun- 
tains on either side, and lies between lakes Brienz and Thun. 
It was evidently at one time a continued lake which has been 
filled at this point by debris brought by the river Oos, from the 
mountains above. 

The valley contains some 4,000 square miles, is very fertile, 
or is made so by the cunning industry of man, who is forced to 
wring from reluctant nature treasures which she does not 
possess. It is densely populated and contains several small 
towns and villages, the principal one of which is Interlaken, 
situated on the river and in front of a wide gap in the moun- 
tain foot range, that permits a fine view of the loftier snow 
clad mountains beyond, grandest among these are Jungfrau, 
-Silverhorn, Breithorn and Wetterhorn. The town is only of 
importance to tourists as a central point from which to visit 
these Alpine giants, and consists mostly of hotels and pensions 
and shops for the sale of numerous articles to tourists, such as 
b( Jtiful carved wooden objects — Alpine sticks, poles, canes, 
cl mois horn canes, etc., etc. 

GRINDENWALD. 

July loth. — Took carriage, and in company with our Scotch 
riends, drove to Grindenwald at the foot of Jungfrau, which 



244 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

rises nearly 14,000 feet above the sea, and flanked by Silver- 
horn and Schneehorn all covered with mantles of eternal snow, 
some of whose crystal flakes may have witnessed man's first 
transgression or blushed at his vain attempt to build the Tower 
of Babel. At the very foot of these, near the smaller glacier, 
is situated the hotel. Here we took horses, wife remaining at 
the hotel, and rode over a wild, broken path to the foot of the 
great glacier, a wall of ice hundreds of feet high; entered a 
grotto that has been cut several hundred yards into this blue 
hyaline mass. It is impossible to imagine anything wilder, 
grander than this vast sea of ice, rapidly melting in the rays of 
a July sun ; a river rushes from beneath it, while lofty, irregular 
spectre-like masses, weighing many tons, hang in startling 
grandeur along and above its perpendicular walls. These ice 
masses becoming detached by melting are seen toppling over, 
falling with a thundering sound into the gorge deep below. 
This glacier is from some unknown cause, now slowly receding, 
and has been for years. I noticed in the worn, scraped granite 
rock walls of this gorge indisputable evidences that this great 
glacier at the foot of Jungfrau, had, in comparatively recent 
times, extended over the ground on which we were standing, 
reaching down and filling up the deep gorge some half mile 
below. 

This I pointed out to our company, who thought I must be 
mistaken, but on returning to our hotel at Interlaken and 
mentioning the fact to our landlord, who is an old and highly 
intelligent and cultivated Swiss gentleman, he said I was 
correct, that when he accompanied Agassiz to this glacier forty 
years before, they walked over this ice gorge at the point I 
had indicated, that it had been receding for many years, and 
should this continue Interlaken would loose much of its charm 
to tourists. But this he did not expect, as from some un- 
known cause glaciers for many years contracted, and then 



INTERLAKEN. 245 

from like unknown causes they rapidly expanded. This must 
be the result of a series of cold or warm seasons. While I was 
pleased to have my scientific observation thus readily confirmed, 
I was surprised that it had been so recent, as I thought most 
likely it had been centuries since this change had taken place. 
The air at this place, notwithstanding it was midsummer, 
was chilly, wintry. After returning to the hotel and taking 
lunch we returned late in the evening to Interlaken, having 
had a delightful drive through a wild mountain gorge of twelve 
miles out and return, twenty-four miles. 

LAUTERBRUNNEN. 

July nth, — Took carriage and drove to Lauterbrunnen, 
Staubach, eight miles. The road leads up through a wild 
chasm lined on either side by precipitous walls of granite or 
limestone and silt, that rise four and five thousand feet above 
the mountain torrent, and in some places directly overhanging 
the road. Great granite masses, weighing in some instances 
hundreds of tons, lie scattered in wild grandeur throughout the 
gorge. These great granite masses have been detached from 
these overhanging walls by earthquake shocks and have fallen 
to their present places with a force that must have shook the 
great globe to its center. Nothing can be grander or wilder 
than this chasm, with its time-worn, lightning scarred and 
earthquake riven walls, that mount to the very clouds, and may 
have been erected as barriers by the gods against the giants 
in their wars with this fierce earth-born race, or their mother 
Ge, who fought with her children, may have built them for the 
giants to scale heaven. In either case, with what almighty 
force these walls have been prepared may be seen in the dis- 
torted, twisted, vertical layers of rock that have been bent and 
wreathed as willow twigs. At the upper end of the lower val- 
ley is Lauterbrunnen (all springs) and Staubach (Dustbrook) 
— here we are again at the foot of Jungfrau and Breithorn, 



246 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

but the view of these, owmg to projecting cliffs, is not so good 
as at Grinwald. The principal attraction ofLauterbrunnen, be- 
sides its cool air and wild, rugged scenery is the Staubach,, a 
waterfall, where a considerable stream of water falls over and 
down a perpendicular granite wall, 960 feet. It is called dust 
stream from the fact that at its first appearance on the brow of 
the cliff it is seen as a cloud of dust, powder, smoke or spray, 
having been already lashed into spray by its previous plunge 
from some more distant height, and this appearance as a cloud 
of bright smoke or dust it maintains to the foot of the rock, 
a bright cloud of silver smoke or lace swayed to and fro by 
the wind, now disappearing, now as a bright mist, wreathed in 
fantastic forms, and flashing in the sunbeams as a bridal veil 
of glass lace. We sat long at the foot of this cataract watch- 
ing this weird bridal veil, made for water nymphs, whose airy 
forms were scarce concealed as they blushing drew this mist- 
veil around them, nor until the evening shades were throwing 
their spectral shadows across the gorge did we return to the 
hotel where we had left our carriage, took coffee and drove 
back along this cool Alpine gorge to Interlaken, all alone, our 
Scotch friends having left for Paris. These lofty mountains, 
like the Rigi, are clothed even to their summits with green 
grasses and bright flowers ; hundreds of cattle, sheep and goats 
find rich pastures here, while far up their steep sides, as far as 
and even above the timber line, houses are seen; one of these 
not less than 6,000 feet above the sea is seen from this gorge 
hanging upon the brow of a seemingly inaccessible mountain 
top. These houses are the summer home of herders, who go 
upon the mountains with their flocks after the melting of the 
snow in May, and remain with their herds until driven down 
by the fall of snow in October. Where many of these houses 
are the snow falls sixteen to twenty feet deep in winter. How 
dreary must be the lives of these goat-herders during the 



INTERLAKEN. 247 

short summers, separated from all mankind, surrounded only 
by their herds, utterly ignorant of all that is going on in the 
great world below them, they live the lives of hermits until the 
kindly snows drive them back to the society of men. And 
yet so wonderfully are we constituted, that, though the most 
gregarious of all animals, more so than even the bee or the 
anc, we are readily adapted to circumstances, substituting the 
society of our dogs and goats for that of men. Who can say 
that the lonely mountain herders and chamois hunters are not 
happy ? 

Our kind-hearted, gentlemanly host was, as before remarked, 
a man of much intelligence. I now found him a man of great 
moral, social and poHtical worth. In a general conversation I 
remarked that drunkenness was greater in Switzerland than 
with any other people. At first his national pride was natur- 
ally touched, and thinking only of the reforms introduced he 
was much tempted to, if not deny, at least to extenuate it, when I 
referred him to the report of the Swiss legislature (of which I 
found he was a member), when he frankly admitted the truth of 
the report, and stated the reason of the former prevalence of 
drunkenness, Avith the remedies applied. Formerly, as I knew, 
wines and hquors of all kinds were admitted from France and 
Italy, duty free, while no hindrance was put upon the manu- 
facture, by the farmer, of cheap liquors from barley, potatoes, 
etc., whereby not only was it rendered throughout the rural 
districts quite possible to get drunk on a few cents, but much 
of the food produce of the country, was distilled, causing 
drunkenness, idleness, crime, poverty. With great difficulty the 
legislature was induced to pass laws against home distilleries and 
place a high duty on imported liquors, by which the masses 
were made more temperate by necessity. This great 
moral change had been brought about through the aid of tem- 
perance societies established in every town and village, and 



248 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

these I learned from this gentleman were established upon a 
wiser plan than any I had ever known. All temperance 
societies as such, signing pledges not to drink, are failures, 
and then these could not have been established at all in many 
of the rural districts. In the place of these, taking advantage 
of and improving the almost universal taste and fondness of the 
Swiss for music and singing, they established social clubs, 
singing societies, in every neighborhood. These societies were 
at once popular among the young people, as membership in 
them served not only for the culture, but gave at once social 
recognition, and not to be a member, either from not joining or 
from expulsion, was everywhere considered as constituting the 
young person as unworthy of social recognition, and this in de- 
spite of wealth or family. These societies abjured wine-drink- 
ing, and any member getting intoxicated was immediately ex- 
pelled, and after a second offense was not only deprived of his 
certificate of membership, but all the other Societies were 
notified of the fact. He then became a pariah, an outcast 
from society, one with the mark of Cain upon him, with whom 
it was dishonorable to associate. Thus these societies, includ- 
ing all the young people, not only served as schools for in- 
struction, badges of social position, but at the same time 
enforced sobriety with a certainty nothing else could have 
done. The result was magical. It sent up to the legislature 
sober temperance men, who passed the laws referred to, which 
acting upon the ignorant masses by necessity, and upon-all the 
better classes by social and moral suasion, were rapidly making 
Switzerland the most temperate of the countries of Europe. 
Our host himself was, as I learned. President of these societies 
in his canton and an able temperance advocate. 

FROM INTERLAKEN TO BERNE. 
July i^th. — Left Interlaken at 1:30 o'clock for Berne. 
Took railroad to a point on Lake Thun, two miles, where we 



PROM INTERLAKEN TO BERNE. 249 

took Steamer for the town ofThun, situated beyond the lake on 
the river Aar. This river, after forming lake Brienz, runs 
across the isthmus of Interlaken into Lake Thun, from there to 
Berne, and after receiving the river from Lake Neuchatel, emp- 
ties into the Rhine a short distance above Basle. Thun is situated 
on this river just after it leaves the lake, at which point we took 
cars to Berne, where we arrived at 7 o'clock p. m. 

Lake Thun is one of those beautiful sheets of water that 
give so much interest to the scenery of Switzerland, and is un- 
surpassed for the quiet beauty and often picturesque grandeur 
of its landscape views, and lake shore, by any other like body 
of water in the world. At first the lake retains the milky ap- 
pearance, though not so marked as in Lake Brienz. Soon it 
becomes a bright blue color, reflecting from its transparent 
waters every passing shadow. The portion of the lake next 
Interlaken is bordered by mountains, wild and Alpine in char- 
acter, rising from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the lake, and often 
with perpendicular walls ot 1,000 feet, with wild rugged peaks 
rising to the region of perpetual snow. Gradually as we ap- 
proach the lower end of the lake the mountains become undu- 
lating, high hills, cultivated to their very summits, and so 
densely populated that the houses constitute almost a contin- 
uous village. The steamer touched at several points on either 
side of the lake. Beautiful villages with ornamental hotels or 
pensions indicated the great multitudes of visitors to these 
regions during the summer months, though I learn that it is a 
delightful residence even in winter. These hotels and pensions 
were not confined to the towns but nestled among the vine- 
clad hills, with long shady avenues, and pleasant graveled walks, 
overhung by the wide-spreading branches of lime trees, consti- 
tute very Edens, where one of a cultivated, contented mind 
might spend a season with as much pleasure and quiet happi- 
ness as in any place on earth. 



250 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

BERNE. 

The road from Thun to Berne is down the narrow valley of 
the Aar, and uninteresting — soil poor and scenery uninviting. 
Arrived at Berne, capital of canton Berne, and a.lso of Switzer- 
land. Put up at the very excellent Hotel Bellevue, situated near, 
but a hundred feet above, the Aar. It was only a few days be- 
fore their annual International Shooting Feast, and all the city was 
gaily decorated for the occasion. Many thousands of stream- 
ers and flags waved over the city. Every hall and public 
building was gaily decorated, reminding us much of San Fran- 
cisco two years ago when the Knights Templar met there, or 
of Copenhagen last year during the session of the International 
Medical Congress. 

Berne is a mediaeval city of some 40,000 inhabitants. Many 
of its features have stood through the storms of time, un- 
changed. It stands upon an elevation almost surrounded by 
the Aar, which flows as a rapid mountain torrent 100 feet below 
the city. Its site was evidently selected on account of its easy 
defense against attack, and consequently even in this, points 
back through the Dark Ages, when only might made right, 
when inability to defend only secured attack. The Aar is 
spanned by several bridges connecting the two parts of the 
town. One of these is the iron railroad bridge. Another a 
beautiful iron bridge with three arches, the principal one 100 
feet above the river. The objects of especial interest are first 
the old Clock Tower, a quaint old structure, with a clock much 
like that of Strasburg. A curious and massive mechanism 
moves at each hour, at the time of striking, numerous figures. 
We were, however, disappointed in this performance, for, while 
ingenious, it was, we thought, rather tame, and not near so fine 
as the clock at Prague. Visited the Cathedral, an immense 
and splendid Gothic structure 500 years old. Visited the 
museum, which I shall not attempt to describe, though its col- 



BERNE. 251 

lections are to the Archselogical student, or lover of natural 
history, of very great importance. Saw and bought a photo- 
graph of the faithful and intelligent old St. Bernard dog, Barry, 
who though only a dog, did in his day more good, and made 
for himself a brighter immortality, than most men. It is said 
that this noble and sagacious animal, whose history I would 
here relate did not the world know it, saved the Hves of some 
seventy persons, who must have perished but for his self-denial 
and devotion to duty. 

Visited the Graben, containing bears, which, like the wolf to 
the ancient Romans are sacred ' animals with all true Swiss, 
especially here in Berne — the city Berne receiving its name 
from this rather uncouth and awkward animal. A bear is on 
the Swiss banner, bears on the coats of arms, bears ornament 
the fountains, bears in the houses, bears on the walls, in the bed- 
rooms, bears in the shops, bears in wood, in ivory, in gold, in 
marble, in bronze, indeed bears everywhere. Visited the Corn 
Hall, an immense structure with store house, cellars, intended, 
and formerly used to store corn and wine during seasons of 
plenty, for and against seasons of famine, reminding us of 
Joseph in Egypt. But this, as Joseph's storehouses, was be- 
fore the time of railroads, which by making it possible to feed 
a people from a distant province, make famine, want, an im- 
possibility, and though no longer used or needed they speak 
trumpet-tongued of other days, ere man had so far triumphed 
over time and space by steam and the telegraph as to bring 
the ends of the earth together, and by outrunning the sunbeam 
in its flight, is enabled to prevent, by anticipating, the wants of 
men. Took carriage and drove over and around the city. 
At 1:30 o'clock took cars for Freyburg where we arrived at 
7 p. M., put up at Hotel Grand National. 
FREYBURG. 

July I'jth. — Freyburg is an unimportant town of the middle 
ages, built upon a projectmg high point, with the mountain 



252 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

torrent Saane running in a deep gorge nearly around the town 
and more than 100 feet below it. The torrent is spanned by 
a suspension bridge 900 feet long. Another suspension bridge 
spans a yawning chasm 350 feet above the stream. It is a 
fortified town surrounded with its walls of the early middle ages, 
and in every nook and corner of this non -progressive town, 
the ghost of other days spreads its wings at noon-day. Attend- 
ed the old cathedral to witness the monthly performance on its 
grand old organ, one of the finest in the world. The cathedral 
was dimly lighted with a single small oil lamp, intended, I sup- 
pose, by shutting out all other senses, the better to leave that 
of hearing the more acute. The music I must suppose was 
grand, but I am compelled to confess that I failed to see it to 
the extent of gushing ; possibly I was not in a good mood for 
doing so ; could not see satisfactorily ; was not sure that I was 
secure from ghosts in the gloom ; certain it was that I was not 
" moved by the concord of sweet sounds " as I was at a much 
less pretentious musical performance during high mass at the 
Lateran in Rome. 

LAUSANNE. 

July 18 th. — Left Freyburg at 11 a. m., and arrived in 
Lausanne at 1:30 p. m. Much of this route is along and over 
a cultivated district, with the latter part of it affording the most 
enchantingly beautiful landscape pictures in the world. We 
pass through several long tunnels, after passing through the 
last, the lovely Lake of Geneva, Lac Leman flashes upon us 
in a panoramic vision of enchanting loveliness. 

Sunday, July igth, 188^ — Lausanne is a Calvinistic town 
of 30,000 inhabitants, and not worth visiting, if one has any 
other place to which he might go. We put up at Hotel Gib- 
bon, as doubtless thousands before us have done, for no other 
reason than that here Gibbon concluded his immortal work, 
" The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," in 1778, a work 



LAUSANNE. 253 

that has been more read, praised and abused than almost 
any other work of man, and from the mere fact that it was 
written here will give to Lausanne a place in the world's his- 
toi7 when much that its people now most pride in shall have 
been forgotten. 

Weh, we expected to find here some memento, some im- 
mortelle to the memory of this man, but found not a trace, not 
even the name Gibbon carved on tree, bench or stone, noth- 
ing whatever to indicate that such a person ever lived or wrote 
here or elsewhere. We were shown the tree under which it is 
said he was wont to sit, no naine carved upon its bark or 
bench ; we were also permitted to inspect the two little rooms 
in which he lived while here — again no trace of the event. 
Wise, however, as serpents in all things that make for pelf, 
they have named the hotel Gibbon. This catches the tourist 
or visitor and does bigotry no violence. 

The old cathedal, an old Gothic structure, is situated upon 
the lofty crest of the hill overlooking the city and the Lake Ge- 
neva, and is reached from the Gibbon Hotel by ascending some 
200 stone steps placed at different points of the hill. It being 
Sunday morning, we wished to attend service in this venerable 
pile, big with historical incidents, not the least of which was the 
famous disputation between Calvin and a Catholic priest, which 
after a fierce struggle, not without "loss of fife, resulted in the 
Catholics being driven out, dispossessed of their church, and 
the Calvinists being installed instead. And what did these 
people gain by the fearful struggles this commotion caused ? 
Only a change of masters, and, I am constrained to befieve, a 
change for the worse. 

The morning was warm, the route circuitous, the ascent 
steep and tiresome, and although we had left the hotel early 
it was perhaps nearly 1 1 o'clock before we, quite fatigued, 
reached this old cathedral, at whose turrets the tooth of time 



2 54 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

had gnawed in vain for more than half a thousand years. We 
approached it with feelings of awe and reverence begotten by 
^ knowledge of the great things it had witnessed. Though 
time for church we noticed the doors were closed, and as we 
approached to enter the church two young women placed as 
sentinels or guards on the outside came forward to meet us, as 
was their duty, informed us that services had commenced and 
therefore we could not enter. What ! not enter the house of 
God, because, forsooth, as strangers in a strange place and 
not knowing the difficulties of the ascent, we had been so un- 
fortunate as to arrive at the church doors a few minutes late ? 
The house of God closed because services had commenced or 
were about to begin ? And were only those fortunate enough 
to be present at the beginning of the discourse fit to be saved, 
while strangers and those belated were turned into hell ? Well, 
if this be Protestantism, and it seems to be here in Lausanne, 
give us Catholicism. In all our journeys through so-called 
benighted, priest-ridden Austria and Italy we have seen noth- 
ing to compare to this. Everywhere the doors of Catholic 
churches, like gospel gates, stand open wide day and night. 
At all hours and everywhere these churches are what they pro- 
fess to be, houses of God, where the soul-burdened man, wo- 
man or child, though a wayfarer and stranger, may enter their 
sacred walls to ask from indulgent heaven consolations earth 
has not given. 

Being denied admission to the church, we returned to the 
hotel, ordered our baggage sent to the steamer, and felt a pos- 
itive relief when, an hour after leaving the cathedral walls, we 
left on the steamer for Geneva. 

GENEVA. 

Left Lausanne at 1 1 a. m. for Geneva, where we arrived at 
12 p. M. and put up at Pension Picard, a most excellent pen- 



GENEVA. 255 

sion. We found a number of very pleasant Americans here, 
among them Dr. Stevens, author of the " History of Method- 
ism," and " Life of Madame De Stael," with his family. 

Geneva is an old city of 50,000 inhabitants, much of it 
finely built. The old part of the city is mediaeval, with steep 
tile roofs and narrow, winding streets. 

July 2ist. — •Visited the cathedral, whose Gothic worn walls 
and turrets have witnessed the retiring clouds and darkness 
that shrouded Europe in her long night of gloom, caught the 
first twilight of the middle ages, as the returning crusader dif- 
fused through the songs of the troubadour, the dun light 
brought from other lands, saw the aurora dawn of the Ren- 
aissance, and with proud defiance of storms and time, stands yet 
in its prime as a witness and promoter of the glorious light of 
the present day. More than 800 years have come and gone 
since first its altars were erected, and its deep-toned bell sum- 
moned its worshipers or tolled the funeral knell. Alas, what 
multitudinous hosts who once worshiped here have been for- 
gotten, time out of memory. How many blushing brides have 
stood before its altar who have been followed by their chil- 
dren's children to the lonely grave, where more than half a 
thousand years ago time's finger wrote, 

" To dull forgetfulness a prey." 

For more than half a thousand years, this old cathedral was 
Roman Catholic, but in the sixteenth century its congrega- 
tion became Protestant. No saints, no madonnas, no high 
altar, no statues of Apostles are seen ; all is as plain as the 
spiritual tastes of its congregations require or demand. In 
walking along its sombre aisles, I could but think the ghosts 
of these things looked out at me from the walls and made 
moan from the empty niches. 

The chair in which Calvin sat when in the pulpit is still seen 
here. It is as straight-backed and unelastic as Calvin could 



256 SOUVENIRS OP TRAVEL. 

have been, and I fancied I saw a striking likeness between 
this old chair and its former occupant. Why not ? Does any 
one suppose there is a stone in this old pile but is redolent 
with his thunders that shook Europe with a moral earthquake, 
whose vibrations will be felt with ever increased and increasing 
force to the end of time ? Visited also Calvin's old house in 
which he lived during most of the time of his ministry here, 
but Httle or nothing is found here to remind us of the former 
presence of this great man. The building is now used by the 
Board of Health and the rooms for charity clinics. We visited 
not his grave, for the reason, if no other, that the exact spot 
where rests his dust is not certainly known, and we dislike 
doubt in anything that concerns Calvin, who had none. What- 
ever may have been his faults, doubt was not one of them. 
When he came to die, he enjoined it upon his friends that no 
monument should be erected to his memory, and in very kind- 
ness and veneration they observed his request so literally 
that no stone was placed to mark the spot, and, like Moses, 
" where he was buried, no man knoweth to the present day." 
This I was told here by those who ought to know. I have 
seen it contradicted, but have the best of reasons for believing 
his grave is unknown, though guides, doubtless, could be found 
in Geneva who would point it out to the curious tourist for 
money. 

July 22nd. — Took steamer, and in company with some very 
pleasant American friends left for a trip around the lake, but 
principally to Chilon, an old mediaeval castle-prison, whose 
strong prison wall confined many a hapless victim, who on 
entering them, passed through only on his way to heaven, 
among these the illustrious, the noble Bonivard. We descend- 
ed deep down into its gloomy donjon keep, saw the rock and 
iron ring to which he was chained for many fearful years, 
traced the deep path worn in the rock by his naked feet as he 



GENEVA. 257 

walked forward and backward the length of his chain. This 
castle-prison with its horrid woes, like the Bridge of Sighs at 
Venice had sunk into dim remembrance. The echos of the 
dying groans of its hapless victims had almost ceased to re- 
verberate through its dark, damp, dismal cells, until reanimated 
by the genius of Byron, whose poem ^' Prisoner of Chilon," will 
live and stir the souls of men against cruel wrong, when its 
massive rock-built and time-defying walls have crumbled to 
decay. Yea, when the vast depths, " a thousand feet or more," 
through which the plummet sinks near its walls, shall, like its 
moat, have become dry land. We carried along with us and 
read, as shall yet a thousand generations of children's children 
do, this immortal poem, which echoed back from the gloomy 
walls, seemed the spirit of its victims. 

" Chilon, thy prison is a holy place 

And thy sad floor an altar, for 'twas trod 

Until his very steps have left a trace, 
Worn as if the cold pavement were a sod 

By Bonivard ; may none those marks efface, 
For they appeal from tyranny to God." 

We climbed up and looked out of the small, doubly iron- 
barred window upon the only cheerful spot he could see. 

"And then there was a little isle 
Which in my very face did smile, 
The only one in view," 

which is a beautiful little island on the opposite side and upper 
end of the lake, about a mile off, and looks from the castle 
much like a large tub sitting m a garden lake. It was walled 
around, and planted with three elms, the only ones for which 
there is room, by an English lady a hundred years ago. These 
three trees are upon it now, and appear from the castle much 
like three large orange trees in a garden tub, setting in an 
artificial lake of crystal water. Nothing can be more peaceable 
or lovely than the view from here, these old prison walls alone 



258 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

remind US " like the smiling prospect of Ceylon," that "only 
man is vile." But thanks to the spirit of the age and changed 
conditions, even these old prison walls are wont to wreath 
themselves in smiles, which half conceal the wrong they have 
witnessed in other days ; and why should they not, since captor 
and captive, oppressor and the oppressed have long since met 
on common ground ? How sad it is to feel and know that life 
as short as man's should be spent in oppressing his fellow man! 
When shall the new gospel of the universal Fatherhood of God, 
and the universal brotherhood of man — that man is only less 
divine than his Author — make us really love and treat with 
brotherly kmdness all our race? 

July 24th. — Took steamer and went to Coppet, a pleasant 
run by steamer, of an hour from Geneva. This old chateau, 
and former Swiss home of the great financier Necker and his 
wonderfully gifted daughter, Madame De Stael, is, and will 
long be a holy place to all those who worship at the shrine of 
genius. The chateau is in a good state of preservation, and 
still in the possession of Madame De Stael's descendants. Her 
granddaughter lives here now, but we were sorry to find her 
absent from home at the time of our visit. We were politely 
shown through the principal rooms, once occupied by Madame 
De Stael and her literary friends, among them Lord Byron. 
The large library saloon has its book-cases, with their well-filled 
shelves of valuable treasures, much as she left them, with the 
costly tables, chairs, cabinets, old piano and many other things 
much as when last she fondly saw them. We saw a glass box 
of curious workmanship and filled with keepsakes, little me- 
mentos, souvenirs of loved ones, just as she had with loving 
hands arranged them, pictures and engravings hung upon the 
walls of the room, doubtless just as she had placed them. How 
touchingly lovely ! To me these mementos were more eloquent 
than Tully, her spirit breathed, burned, in everything in these 



GENEVA. 259 

walls. To those who love all that is intellectual, grand and 
great in woman, Madame De Stael will appear truly sublime. 
With a soul too proud to bow to earth's despot and ruler, 
Napoleon, to whom the kings of the earth were bowing the 
supple hinges of the knee to ask for thrones, she refused to do 
him honor, and dared to withstand the tyrant on the throne, 
and in her incomparably brilliant conversations in her saloons, 
with the force of the red-hot thunderbolts of Jove, threw 
nightly the ghost of the murdered liberty of France in his face, 
at his feet, until the affrighted tyrant, appalled by the danger 
of the ghastly corpses, stooped to banish her by edict from her 
much-loved France. This fearless woman was mightier with 
the pen than even the conqueror of Europe was with the swords 
of half a million men. 

The mausoleum of father and daughter is enclosed by a 
high wall in a silent grove near the garden. It was erected by 
her father and enclosed with this wall, pierced only by a door. 
He was buried here, and at her death Madame De Stael was 
laid by her idolized father, and according to his will the entrance 
was walled in, and all the world shut out forever. Since then 
this holy ground has never been tread upon by stranger's feet. 
Lovingly united in death, as they had been through a stormy 
life, they await here the last trump. Let all the world hope 
that . " now that life's fitful fever's o'er, they sleep well." Is 
there a man or woman who could retrace our steps through 
this long to be remembered day without emotion ? We dropped 
a tear as an immortelle to her memory, and late in the evening 
with no wish, no capacity, to see more, returned to Geneva. 

Immediately opposite, across the lake, nestled away among 
romantic old trees far up on the side of the hill that overlooks 
Lake Leman, is the beautiful villa, occupied by Lord Byron 
while here. Down near the edge of the lake stands his boat- 
house in which his boatman lived. Byron had just then parted 



2 6o SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

from his wife and been driven out of England by public opin- 
ion which his proud soul, though more keenly feeling the 
pang of the disgrace than any other man could have done, 
was too proud to conciliate. Frenzied at the thought, and 
mad at life's history, it is said that of dark and stormy nights 
when the Bees blew the maddened waves against the affright- 
ed shores with a fury and a roar that startled the inmates of 
adjoining church yards from their coffined slumbers and whit- 
ened the shore line with shrouded ghosts, who, thinking the 
last trump had sounded, were anxiously expecting earth and 
sea to give up their dead, Byron would call up his boatman, 
order his boat, hoist sail and drive with frenzied fury through 
the white-capped waves that had no terrors such as racked 
the storm-tossed soul of him who dared their fury. 

The affrighted boatman, though a Swiss, a bold swimmer 
and unused to fear, conscious of the danger, a danger greater 
than mortal man or fiend infernal was wont to meet, counted 
his beads on such occasions; and when contrary to all 
human expectations, he again reached shore returned pious, 
deep, sincere thanks for his unexpected providential deliver- 
ance and with trembling awe looked upon his master, who was 
disappointed in his wish of being drowned, as possibly being 
his Satanic majesty himself embodied in human form. 
Daily this pious boatman, after saying his morning prayers, 
swore by all the saints in the calendar to run away, to fly from 
this terrible danger and perhaps from the service of his old 
enemy, the devil, who his catachism had taught him to fear 
even when in a safer place than on Lake Leman, in such nights. 

July 2^th. — Took carriage and drove through the suburbs 
of Geneva and around the picturesque and highly improved 
lower or western portion of Lake Leman, passed by many pal- 
atial villas that adorn the hillsides, among these the summer 
residence of Baron Rothschild. From one of these lofty 



GENEVA. 201 

points we had a splendid view of Mount Blanc, that near 
Chamois, fifty miles off, lifts its eternal snow-capped summit 
to the very heavens. It is a splendid sight as seen through 
our glasses even from here, so massive that it confounds dis- 
tance, appearing close by us, and so brilliant, as clothed in its 
mantel of virgin snow it sparkles and flashes in a noonday sun 
that we feel almost pained by the glare. 

July 2yth.—'Lth Geneva at 7 a. m. in diligence for 
Chamoinex, fifty-three miles distant. The road passes at first 
through the beautiful and densely populated environs of the 
city and three miles out passes the intersecting line, France- 
Savoy, soon reaching the valley of the Arne, a wild, muddy, 
mountain torrent, up which we continue to near its source at 
Chamoinex. Some thirty-five miles out from Geneva we reach 
a considerable town St. Martin, where we obtain a fine view 
of the Mount Blanc range of snow-clad mountains. And so 
great is the magnitude of Mount Blanc, that distance is appar- 
ently annihilated, it appearing to hang almost directly over us, 
while in fact it is ten miles to its base and twenty-five miles to 
the point at which we are looking, its summit. The valley up 
which we pass is but a deep gorge between lofty, perpendicu- 
lar walls, rising thousands of feet above the river Arne, which 
has in many places at some time occupied the entire valley, 
leaving nothing but rounded stones and pebbles, rendering all 
efforts at its leclamation utterly fruitless. 

At other points it widens out into a valley half a mile or 
more in width. These points are very fertile by nature or 
have been rendered so by the industry of man and are highly 
cultivated and densely populated, so much so, that scarcely 
a square rood is unoccupied, the houses presenting an al- 
most continuous village; and even the mountain slopes in 
many places are cultivated to points far above the timber-line, 
while the neat little Swiss cottages are seen even upon the 
ofty summits. 



262 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

At one point where the valley is lined on either side by wild, 
precipitous walls of granite, cistose and mica, slate, rising to 
the very clouds, we come upon a mighty battle-field where was 
fought the greatest battle that earth or heaven ever witnessed. 
We have seen in the gorge, between Interlaken and Lauter- 
brunnen the field where the vanguards of the two contending 
hosts first met, and fought desperately for choice of position, 
while the main battle, a battle that decided the status of earth 
and heaven, of gods and men, was fought here. And had we 
no other proof or knowledge of this great event than that 
given in its rock-leaved pages here, we still might trace the 
stages of this fearful struggle and mark the advancing or declin- 
ing fortunes of the contending hosts. 

But fortunately we are not left alone to this rock record, 
either for the nationality of the forces engaged, the causes pro- 
ducing the war or its results and consequences. 

The sacred historian Moses, in his chapters devoted to the 
world's early history, without entering into the particulars, as 
these were foreign to his purpose, with a clearness and fullness 
of meaning known only to inspiration, gives us the names of 
the parties and the causes leading to this unpleasantness in 
these expressive words, " There were giants upon the earth in 
those days and the sons of God beheld the daughters of men 
and saw that they were fail-." Heathen mythology gives us 
the particulars by and through which we are enabled here on 
the battle-field to trace the varying fortunes of the day. 

This discovery of the gods referred to by Moses, resulted in 
the cultivation of too close an acquaintance, whereby numer- 
ous demigods were produced upon the earth. This very 
^laturally aroused the jealousy of the giants who determined to 
destroy the gods by storming heaven. Thus was the beauty of 
woman the cause of the first war as certainly as was the 
beauty of Helen the cause of the siege and destruction of 



bti^UvA. 263 

Troy. War being declared, the forces of earth were gathered 
upon this battled-scarred plain. And where could they have 
selected a better point than this, where the summits of the 
cloud-piercing Alps lift the earth to heaven? 

The battle must have been a long, fierce and bloody one, 
in which the gods drove back the impetuous, determined, 
assaulting giants, by tearing off great granite blocks from 
these mountain summits and hurling them at the attacking 
party as they attempted to scale these perpendicular walls of 
thousands of feet in their furious efforts to reach and storm the 
battlements of heaven. 

Many of these blocks are as large as a Swiss cottage, while 
some of them are as large as the Milan cathedral. Thousands 
of these missiles of the gods lie piled, heaped up in and across 
the valley, some of them having been thrown from a height of 
more than a mile and to a distance of a mile from the base of 
the parapet, against which the giants had placed their scaling- 
ladders. 

The contest was at length decided against our ancestors, of 
whom Hercules was but a degenerate scion, not from any 
superiority of strength or valor upon the part of the gods, but 
by mere advantage of position. Had the result of this con- 
test been different, as from the valor of our remote ancestors 
it deserved to have been, we, the lords of creation, instead of 
being confined to earth as at present, might have been in full 
possession of heaven. But this change of position, while it 
might have gained us many and great advantages, as wives 
and daughters were left at home during these assaults, might 
have lost us woman. If so, I gladly accept the result. 

This road, which has been built with incredible expense, 
runs nearly all the way up the narrow valley, but occasionally 
when this is contracted to a mere chasm cleft through the 
mountain through which the river rushes with the roar of a 



264 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

cataract, leaving no room for a road, it mounts to a lofty 
height along the precipitous wall that overhangs the river, only 
separated from the precipice by a few feet, which is occupied 
by a low stone wall two feet high. At these points we look 
down from the top of the diligence, or out of the windows 
over this low wall down the yawning chasm a thousand feet and 
more upon the angry river, whose wild roar fails to reach our 
dizzy height. 

The diligence is drawn by five horses and these are changed 
six or seven times, so that each trip requires no less than thirty 
or thirty-five horses. Greatly fatigued we reached Chamoinex 
at half past four p. m., and stopped at hotel de I'Union, a very 
good hotel, except that the semi-barbarians are unacquainted 
with any Christian language. Only French is spoken. The 
hotel is situated immediately at the foot of the Mont Blanc 
group. A beautiful cascade is in front of our window, it is a 
bright, clear stream from melted snow and ice, which leaps 
down the almost perpendicular side of the mountain 6,000 
feet, breaking into silver spray. In the early morning it is 
only a silver Hue, in the afternoon, when the vertical rays of a 
July sun have kissed the fields of snow and ice that rise a mile 
and more above and beyond the point at which it is first seen, 
it becomes quite a torrent. The river Arne, which flows imme- 
diately under our window, observes the same daily peculiarity. 

MONT BLANC. 
Took carriage and drove down the valley some two miles, 
to a point opposite the glacier Mer de Glace, where we left 
the carriage and, accompanied by our guide, ascended the foot 
of Mont Blanc, some 2,000 feet above the valley. The road 
is a wild mountain path, overshadowed by trees and great 
granite blocks which have been detached from the sides of 
Mont Blanc and driven by former glaciers and piled up in 



MONT BLANC. 265 

wild grandeur along the sharp ridge. Under the protecting 
shade of these we often stopped to rest, when after traveling 
two or three miles, we reached the foot of the glacier, the ice 
wall of blue, crystal, sparkling beauty, that rose from loo to 
1,000 feet in front and above us. and half a mile to two miles 
wide, and from eight to ten miles long, containing ice enough 
to fill all the ice-houses in the world. Near the foot of this 
glacier wife rested, while I with the guide ascended half a mile 
or more along its precipitous wall, where hung hundreds of 
feet above us thousands of icicles as large as church steeples. 
Many of these were constantly falling with a thundering sound 
into the cavernous vault below. The wildness, majesty and 
beauty of this ice-field cannot be described — must be seen to 
be appreciated. Late in the evening we returned from this 
ice gorge to our hotel. 

A mulp: ride. 
July 2gth. — Engaged a mule and guide for the ascent of 
the Brevent, a lofty rock peak overhanging the valley west of 
the village of Chamoinex. The ascent is very laborious even 
with a good mule, and requires four hours. We had made 
arrangements with the factotum of the hotel to procure us a 
good mule, and guide who spoke English or German, all of 
which he failed to do as we found when too late to remedy it. 
The guide was a stupid Frenchman, who scarcely knew any 
of his mother-tongue and not a word of German or English, 
while the mule was an old draft animal that possessed in an 
eminent degree all the vices, stubbornness, laziness, mulish- 
ness, devilishness, without any of the virtues, steadiness of foot 
and sagacity, of the beast known as mule. The road a mere 
bridal path, difficult and dangerous, zigzags up a depression in 
the side of the mountain where every loo, fifty or ten feet we 
are compelled to turn short to the other side. The stubborn, 
stupid, lazy beast was dragged around one end ,at a time with 



266 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

difficulty, and not until his head was quite over the perpendicu- 
lar wall of twenty or ICO feet. At one point the path was 
defective and falling away on the perpendicular side, and after, 
with much difficulty dragging one end of the mule around, the 
other with his hind legs remained on the point of the path 
that was giving away, I sprang off on the upper side, fully ex- 
pecting, and really hoping to see the stupid beast go over the 
precipice into the chasm a hundred feet below. The guide, 
however, who was really as worthless as the mule, took in the 
situation, and by seizing the bridle extricated the beast. The 
sun shone against this mountain side intensely hot, and after 
much toil and fatigue with walking much of the time, at 
II o'clock we reached Place Bel Achat 2^ small inn hanging like 
a bird's nest upon the brow of the mountain 7,000 feet above 
the sea. Here we took coffee, rested and proceeded on our 
way to the dome, one and a half hours farther, and 2,000 feet 
higher up the mountain, the bridle-path becoming ever more 
difficult and dangerous, running now on the narrow backbone 
of the ridge, only as wide as the path with, on either hand, 
nearly perpendicular sides to the valley thousands of feet below, 
and to add to the difficulty and danger, the mule had become 
more and more mulish, until now it would often stop, and no 
amount of beating or kicking would move it an inch, until the 
guide took hold of the bridle and started it again, when, like 
some mfernal machine, it ran or moved until it stopped again, 
which, I noticed, was nearly always at just such points as were 
least desirable for prolonged parleys, as I could not alight on 
either side without standing on the brink, or falling over the 
sides to the valley below. After two more hours, near i p. m., 
I reached the dome, which is only thirty or forty feet square, 
with precipitous walls overhanging the town of Chamoinex, 
7,000 feet below. 

Here I met with several persons, one an English lady from 



MONT BLANC. 267 

our hotel who had preceded me on foot, and had been here 
long enough to lunch and rest. This point is a giddy one, 
not only from its great perpendicular height, 9,000 feet above 
the sea, but also from the very small space we have to stand 
upon. There is no snow upon the summit, nor is this even 
called a snow mountain, or one covered with perpetual snow, 
notwithstanding the fact that we are here 2,000 feet above the 
vast glaciers and perpetual snow fields across the valley. The 
reason for this is the same that prevents the Aiguille being 
covered with perpetual snows, though some of these around 
us are nearly as high as Mont Blanc. There is no surface on 
either for snows to gather or lie upon. In the depressions on 
the side of the mountain, where snow can accumulate, thous- 
ands of feet below where I am standing, the snow and ice are 
six to ten feet deep, or even much more than this. At one 
point, we passed over one of these snow patches in which the 
mule sank to his knees in snow. 

THE BREVENT. 

The view from this lofty point is wild, rugged, grand, im- 
posing, awe-inspiring, Almost immediately below me on one 
side is the valley of the Arne with its numerous towns and 
villages, with beautiful cultivated fields and groves, looking 
like so many gardens, the fields not appearing larger than the 
squares in a garden, while the avenues lined with trees resem- 
ble garden walks lined with hedges or currant bushes, with a 
smaller and wilder valley gorge on the opposite side of this 
mountain, unsoftened in outline by snow deposits. Nature in 
and beyond the narrow valley gorge, is wild and forbidding 
as at creation's dawn. In front is the Mont Blanc group, 
while around me the lofty, rugged, storm riven Aiguilles, or 
needles, stand out against the clear sky in startling grandeur 
and wild beauty, while the monarch of Alpine and European 
mountains, Mont Blanc, is seen to better advantage from this 



2 68 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

point than from its dome itself. As on the latter the great 
height and vast distance is such that things are but imperfectly 
seen, while comparison is lost by the magnitude of the moun- 
tain, which of itself embraces, or includes, almost the entire 
field of human vision. Here at Chamoinex we stand at the 
very foot of this mountain pile, with its vast field of virgin 
snow, the accumulation of I'eonsof ages, stretching up in sublime 
beauty to the very heavens, three miles above the sea. So 
bright and clear does it arise against the blue sky that it is 
difficult to believe that we could not see a man standing upon 
its very douie, and yet with the aid of strong opera glasses we 
could not see a house, perhaps not even St. Paul's Cathedral. 
The distance appears only a few miles and yet it is twenty-five 
or thirty miles to its summit. A party of two gentlemen and 
three guides had left our hotel the evening before, to make the 
ascent. They had remained all night at a little hut built be- 
hind or below some projecting rocks, the Grande Mii/efs, 
situated far up on its sides, from which point they had started 
at daylight. At lo o'clock we looked at them through a 
powerful telescope when they were seen distinctly, all five in a 
single line, they were toiling over the Camel Hump near the 
dome or summit, and while distinctly seen and counted through 
the telescope, they looked much like five flies crawling over a 
large glass globe. Two hours afterwards the firing of the 
cannon at the signal station here in Chamoinex, announced 
that they had reached the top. They returned to Chamoinex 
that night. Next day two Russian ladies, accompanied by 
strong guides to assist them, indeed to almost carry them if 
necessary, started off for the ascent, staying that night, as is the 
custom, at the Grande Mulcts. Next morning the telescope 
showed one woman with the guides. The other, having broken 
down remained at the Grande Mulcts. Whether this woman 
ever reached the summit I did not learn. Very few women have 



MONT 15LANC. 269 

ever been able to climb this mountain, indeed, but compara- 
tively few men can do so, even with the aid of strong guides. 

THE AIGUILLES DU DRU. 

Yesterday two strong athletic, sunburnt, young Frenchmen 
came mto Chamoinex with their guides, havmg come over 
Mont Blanc from the other, or Italian, side. This evening 
they left with their guides, selected here, three bold, hardy 
Alpine climbers and chamois hunters, inured to toil and peril, 
to undertake the perilous ascent of the Aiguille du Dru, a bold, 
rocky needle, or torn granite spear, rising 12,000 feet in the 
air, as steep and as difficult to climb as would be a church 
steeple of the same height, and only the same amount of inter- 
est could attach itself to the accomplishment of the feat as 
would be obtained in climbing a bean pole of the same height. 
Their lives are placed in the most imminent peril, as well as 
those of their guides, with no possible good in view, only a fool- 
hardy desire or ambition to do what no one but a fool would 
wish to do. This Aiguille has never been successfully climbed 
but once, though several fools have lost their lives in the 
attempt, while the boldest and most experienced of the guides 
here look upon the attempt as but little better than suicide. 
Of course these men place their lives in their profession, and 
will attempt any possible or impossible feat in their line, that 
men or devils dare attempt, and would feel disgraced if any 
one wanted their assistance to help them climb all the impossi- 
ble Aiguilles, or inaccessible mountain peaks in the entire 
Alpine range, and should offer to pay sufficiendy for the risk, 
should they refuse. I noticed as these men with their guides, 
the latter natives, left on their perilous venture, the most ex- 
perienced guides shook their heads ominously, the attempt 
being tabooed as a foolhardy one that would almost certainly 
result in failure, and most likely in loss of life. Compared 
with the difficulty and danger of the undertaking, the ascent of 



270 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Mont Blanc is considered as mere child's play. All five of 
the men had each a strong pole some six feet long, armed at 
one end with a sharp, strong, steel spike, at the other with a 
case-hardened, steel pickax and hook for cutting holes in the 
granite column and catching on to projecting crags. They had 
also a long, strong rope, capable of holding all five of the men. 
This rope is to be thrown over projecting crags, and then the 
men pull themselves up by it, or otherwise used as occasion 
or possibility may suggest. All five men, tourists and guides, 
are fearless, strong athletes, inured to toil and fearless of con- 
sequences, capable of doing what man can do. I await anx- 
iously the result. 

July joth. — Took carriage and drove up the valley to the 
Mer de Glace, known as the Glacier des Bois, a vast 
sea of ice, two or three miles wide and ten or fifteen long. 
At this point the Chamoinex valley terminates, also the river 
Arne, mostly formed by the large streams that come from this 
ice field. The great highway along which we had traveled from 
Geneva, now enters a wild, mountain gorge, and continues to 
Martigny. We drove through this gorge where the scenery is 
wild and beautiful, to a degree seldom equalled even in these 
Alpine gorges. Returned to our hotel as the light of day was 
being replaced by the " Alpine glow," or after day glow. 

THE ALPINE GLOW. 

This Alpine Glow, which long after sunset hghts up the snow 
fields and sky almost as light as day, comes on after the sun 
has long entirely disappeared from the loftiest mountain tops.* 
It is doubtless the dispersion or emission of rays of light that 
have been absorbed by the vast fields of deep snow and ice 
during the day. It is a beautiful phenomena, and not the 
least strange and beautiful of these Alpine wonders. 

Lac Leman, vain would be any efforts of mine to paint thy 
loveliness, which even the pen of a Byron, Rosseau and 



ENGLAND. 27 1 

Madame de Stael have failed to delineate. When and where 
undisturbed by the Bees, as is almost nowhere and never the 
case, its waters, as are all the lakes of Switzerland, fed by 
torrents of melted ice and snow, are of a milky white appear- 
ance, caused by included particles of air^ but when ruffled by 
the wind, or as seen from the steamer, are ofa deep indigo blue, 
and when lashed to fury by the violence of the Bees, as has 
been the case all of to-day, with white crested waves breaking 
over mole and pier, its waters become of even a deeper indigo 
tinge. This indigo color of its waters, ascribed by Sir 
Humphrey Davy to the presence of iodine, gives the lake a 
peculiar charm, which with its beaurivage stretching out to the 
long range of Jura Alps bordering its right bank, bespangled 
with villas, cottages, groves and sweet garden fields, constitute 
it a diamond mirror set in a frame of rubies and gold, a very 
Eden, more lovely far than the gardens of the Hesperides, with 
their blossoms of silver and apples of gold, or the Vale of 
Shinar, with its lilies that spring in eternal beauty. 

FROM GENEVA TO ENGLAND VIA PARIS. 

Aug. 4th. — Left for Paris at 8 o'clock p. m., where we ar- 
rived at 8 o'clock next morning, a run of twelve hours, and put 
up at Hotel Londres et New York, which, however, did not 
correspond with its large name. 

Aug. ^th. — As we were only passing through Paris, en 
route to England, it was not our purpose now to stop long 
enough to visit its world renowned treasures of art, but to do 
this on our return here this Fall and Winter which we expect 
to do, and remain many weeks or months. However, Paris is of 
too much interest to the tourist to be passed through as we 
might do with some other places. We accordingly took 
carriage and devoted a day or two to driving over the city 
and its immediate environs, visiting its palaces, parks, monu- 



272 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

ments, driving through the principle boulevards, etc., whereby 
we obtained much valuable information, as well as. deriving an 
incalculable amount of pleasure, as there is no city in the 
world that possesses so many of these, or any perhaps so 
beautiful, there being in the world but one Paris. 

FROM PARIS TO LONDON. 

Aug. 6th. — Left Paris for London via Calais and Dover at 
II A. M., arriving in London at 7 p. m,, a run of only eight 
hours between the cities. 

The road passes over highly cultivated plains, but of no 
especial interest until we reach the historical, highly fortified 
seaport town of Calais. This important city, so long in 
the possession of the English, was permanently lost to 
them during the reign of Mary, who deemed this loss the 
greatest misfortune of her life, and on her death-bed said that 
if her heart were examined Calais would be found written upon 
it. Poor woman, this feeling which does so much credit to 
her true English heart and soul, and which was participated in 
by most, if not all Englishmen of her day, was really like 
many other occurrences in human life, or the history of nations, 
" a blessing in disguise." Here we took steamer across the 
channel to Dover, a distance of twenty-five miles, which is 
made in one hour and fifteen minutes, which is certainly a 
most remarkable speed. 

The channel, often so stormy, was as smooth as a lake, and 
the passage a most delightful one. The weather was a little 
hazy, so that the white chalk chffs of Dover were not seen to 
advantage. At -Dover we took railroad to London. After a 
long residence of fifteen months among peoples speaking a 
strange tongue, it was really delightful to be on the soil of our 
ancestors and among a people of a like language, religion, laws 
and customs with ourselves. It was the first time we had ever 



t^NGLAND. 273 

been upon the soil of old England, and we felt a pleasurable 
emotion that can only be surpassed by standing again upon 
our own native land. God grant that these two mighty nations 
so closely united by so much that constitutes one people, may 
long continue to cultivate the closest ties of peace and friend- 
ship, the only rivalry between them being which may do the 
greatest good. 

Arriving in London we put up at the large hotel at the 
station — Charing Cross Hotel — where we remained two days, 
and as our object now was not to remain in London, but to 
visit England, Scotland and Ireland during the warm season, 
leaving London until our return late in the fall, as at Paris, we 
took carriage and drove over the city, seeing only its outlines 
of palaces, parks, public buildings, etc., when after having 
obtained a general outline of this world's center — 

Aug. 8th. — We took the cars on the Midland railroad for 
England and Scodand, making our first halt at Rowsley, put 
up at the neat, small, old-fashioned hotel the Peacock, in mid 
England, a building of the sixteenth century, and 150 miles 
out from London. Unfortunately the small hotel was crowded 
and we were compelled to take the only vacant room in the 
building. It was Saturday evening and our object in stopping 
here was to see the celebrated castles Hadden Hall and 
Chatsworth. Next day being Sunday, and as m puritanical 
England halls and parks are not open on this day, we were 
compelled, if we would see them, to remain over until Monday. 
Unfortunately the weather was cold, rainy, disagreeable, and 
our large garret room without a fire-place, and the only acces- 
sible fire was in the smoking-room. I had a fire made up in 
this, but as ill luck would have it, the waiting maid of one of 
the lady guests had to eat here, and as she employed most of 
her time in eating, we were compelled to remain out of it, 
most of the seemingly endless, long, wet, dreary, rainy, cold 



274 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

lonesome, puritanical Sabbath, which it really seemed, would 
never end. Altogether here Juno's bird only showed us its 
feet, and I heartily wished the peacock and the maid in Africa. 
But all days, even the dullest and most disagreeable of all, a 
cold, rainy Sunday in England, at tlie overcrowded Peacock 
hotel, will end if we live long enough to see it. Night came at 
last. 

Monday, Aug. loth. — The gloomy Sunday had passed and 
with it the rain ; weather beautiful, bright. Took carriage and 
drove first to Hadden, situated some two miles from Rowsley, 
on the beautiful Wye, and a very typical and English baronial 
mansion it is. It dates back to the eleventh century, was the 
property of Sir John Vernon, and from him to his daughter 
Dorothy Vernon, who eloped and married Sir John Manners. 
It has been the residence of England's kings and queens, who 
on hunting or other expeditions have often visited here, whose 
lordly owners were scarcely less proud or powerful than them- 
selves. From Sir John Manners it descended to the dukes of 
Rutland, who, though no longer living here, still keep it up, 
and have a keeper to show it to strangers, tens of thousands 
of whom visit it annually. While not the oldest baronial 
castle in England, it is the oldest one in a tolerable state of 
preservation — all the others of like date being ruins, only 
ruins, but this, although falling to decay, might readily be 
fitted up as a lordly residence. It is really interesting and 
instructive to learn, through the testimony of this old castle, 
the advance in comfort, convenience and luxury of living 
modern times have brought. Its old wooden tables and 
chairs, the long, rude, old oaken table in the dining-room, at 
which lords and ladies were wont to sit at great feasts, and 
where, with their flowing bowls of ale, many a plumed knight 
told of feats of daring in Palestine or in France, when at the 
battle of Agincourt, the French chivalry went down before the 



ENGLAND. 275 

English battle-axe or cross-bow, while attending troubadours 
sang the exploits of heroes in rescuing their imprisoned lady- 
loves — this table is such as only the poorer classes of working- 
men would use at the present day. 

The great dancing hall, fine in its day, lined with solid oak 
plank, with some rude wood carvings, with no ceiling only the 
naked rafters and roof, such as might be seen in a Dutch 
barn or woodshed, was in its day a grand hall where on festive 
occasions were assembled the beauty and chivalry, even includ- 
ing royalty. It was on one of these occasions of high revel, 
when this hall was filled with knights and ladies, that Sir 
John's daughter, the fair Dorothy Vernon, silently left the hall, 
slipped out of the back door and, stepping softly down a flight 
of stone steps, joined Sir John Manners, who, with his retinue, 
was awaiting her in the yard below. The door through which 
she passed and the stone steps, are shown the visitor. How 
hallowed become such memories ! And how stronger than 
bars and bolts was the flame Cupid had kindled in the heart 
of lovely, innocent, foolish, giddy, flashing Dorothy. Alas ! 
how many hopes and fears have moved the souls of her chil- 
dren's children since that eventful night. Hark ! sounds of 
alarm ! Now are hurrying human feet to and fro. To horse, 
mailed warriors and retainers full four score, arm, mount and 
hasten in pursuit ; but in vain, the bird is secure in its flight. 
Dorothy and the knight of her choice have passed by the 
church upon whose holy altars the candles were burning and 
where they halted long enough for the mitred priest who 
awaited them to pronounce them man and wife and give 
them a benediction, and now they are safe in their new castle 
home, whose strong walls forbid assault. The changes the 
finger of time has wrought in this old castle since that night is 
shown in the stone steps now nearly worn away by passing 
footsteps, which for more than half a thousand years have 



276 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

pressed them, while the great fire-places in the hall with their 
antique garniture have long stood as silent mementoes of the 
past. And the wide hearthstone and great jams of the kitchen, 
with their great bars, and spits, and hooks, and revolving grid- 
irons, upon which was roasted many a boar's head and noble 
stag, for noble or royal guests, have for ages forgotten their 
uses, and anything approximating them in primitive rudeness 
could only now be found in some negro cabin in the Southern 
States of a then unknown world. 

But then when these old halls were new, most of England 
was a forest. London was a small town of ill-constructed 
houses, with narrow, unpaved, uniighted streets ;andthe printing 
press and mariner's compass were unknown. Indeed the long, 
dark night that shrouded Europe after the light of the world 
had been extinguished by the fall of the Roman Empire had 
not withdrawn its curtains. That strange movement the Cru- 
sades was stirring Europe for the rescue of Jerusalem from the 
Moslems, a movement that precipitated Europe upon Asia, 
and Richard Coeur de Lion was marshalling his mailed warriors 
for this emprise. In these halls, then new, many a mailed 
knight quaffed his ale, and in presence of his lady fair, swore 
to rescue the sepulchre, though he had to kill half the Turks 
then living, and after their return, many a strange minstrel 
halted here to sing the songs of the troubadours. We noticed 
in the dining-hall the date 1545. Old, faded tapestries hang on 
the walls. The bed-rooms, as are the halls, are dimly lighted. 
A mirror in one of these rooms belonged to queen Elizabeth. 
Of course we all beheld ourselves in this glass that had reflect- 
ed the image of good queen Bess. We ascended the castle 
tower from where we had a fine view of the lordly manor. 
The crests of these two lordly families were the Boar's head 
and the Peacock, which are still present in the wood carvings, 
also in the garden where two cypress trees are trimmed, the 



CHATSWORTH. 277 

one representing a boar's head the other a peacock. The little 
Peacock hotel at Rowsley also represents the house of Vernon, 
as this was once an appendage of Hadden Hall. 

CHATSWORTH. 

From Hadden Hall we drove by Bakewell to Chatsworth, a 
royal domain given by William the Conqueror to his natural 
son Percival, and now the property of the noble house of 
Cavendish, now rendered immortal by the foul murder of its 
late owner, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Lord Lieutenant of 
Ireland, by misguided Irish patriots, in Phoenix park, near 
Dublin. The grave of the noble lord is in the little family 
church yard. No tomb, no stone, marks the spot. The fresh 
grave was covered by fresh flowers, immortelles, placed here 
by the loving hands of wife and children. The castle is in 
perfect preservation. Indeed the family live here two or three 
months in the year, as was wont to do the late lord. The 
remainder of the year is spent either on another royal domain 
or in London. It is a splendid structure with some of the 
finest statuary and paintings in England. A Hebe by Can ova, 
and a Venus by Thorwaldsen, are among the finest works of 
the modern chisel, indeed require the practiced eye of a con- 
noisseur to see that they are only less fine than like works of 
the Greek Praxiteles. An attendant shows visitors through 
the palatial rooms, with their rich furniture, becoming royalty. 
We next visited the extensive gardens. Nothing in Europe 
excels the beauty of the landscape or extensive plan of these 
gardens and lawns. x\ll that taste and wealth can do to make 
these naturally lovely, has been done to render them surpass- 
ingly beautiful. In the park, as we approach the castle, we 
pass a tower or keep, surrounded by a moat with a small 
drawbridge, where was long confined the unfortunate Mary 
Queen of Scotland, who was sent from here to the tower in 



2/. 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



London, where she was beheaded by order of her cousin 
Elizabeth. 

We noticed in the pasture a tiock of sheep singularly marked 
with black and white spots, ring-streaked and striped. These, 
we were told, were a special breed of sheep belonging to this 
manor, and were very properly called Jacob's sheep, and most 
likely were the direct descendants of those with which J^^cob 
tricked his father-in-law, and that they had been on these 
grounds for five or six hundred years. 

Returned to Rowsley, and took cars for Manchester, a dingy, 
smoky manufacturing town of 400,000 inhabitants, where we 
arrived at 5 p. m., and put up at the very neat and excellent 
temperance hotel, Trevelyan. 

EDINBURGH. 

Ai/g. 1 2th. — ]\Iorning dark, cold and rainy — so cold that 
we had a large coal fire made up in our room. In the even- 
ing cleared up and we went out — walked to Princess street, 
walked to its farther end, passing by the beautiful city gardens. 
A military band in bright scarlet uniforms were playing in the 
open grounds. 

Edinburgh, the Capital and most important town in Scot- 
land, has 250,000 inhabitants, is a grandly picturesque old 
city, situated near the Frith of Forth, and was founded by 
Ed^^^n, king of Northumbria, who erected a strong castle or 
fort upon the lofty, almost inaccessible rock that rises here on 
most points with perpendicular walls 300 feet above the plain, 
having some seven or eight acres of comparatively level ground 
upon Its summit. Upon this was built the castle, palace, and 
battlements, and from these grew, spread out, the old town of 
Edinburgh. From its erection to quite recent times, the his- 
tory of this castle has been intimately associated with — indeed 
has been — that of Scotland. In a small room 6x9 feet 



EDINBURGH. 279 

Queen Mary's bed-room, was born James VL, of Scotland, 
who became James I., of England, where his unfortunate, help- 
less, beautiful mother was long confined as a prisoner of state. 
In the afternoon we took a walk, crossing a long bridge which 
spans a deep ravine separating the old from the new city. Vis- 
ited the beautiful monument erected to Sir Walter Scott. A 
fine statue of Sir Walter and also of his favorite dog are here. 

We visited many places of interest, among them John 
Knox's old house, now 300 years old. Visited the old his- 
torical castle ofHolyrood Palace, first erected in 11 28. It has 
been several times partially destroyed and again restored, and 
is now, after 700 years, in a good state of preservation, except 
the royal chapel. The ancient dining and dancmg hall, now a 
picture gallery, is hung around with the portraits of Scotland's 
kings, queens, heroes and court belles. Queen Mary's apart- 
ments contained several mementos of this beautiful queen, 
At the head of the steps, entering her drawing-room, is shown 
the blood stains where her private secretary was murdered 
while clinging to her garments for protection, by her fierce, un- 
tamed, half-savage, and altogether brutal nobles. In vain the 
brave but helpless queen, at the eminent risk of her life, en- 
deavored to protect him. One of the brutal assassins placed a 
pistol at her breast, others flashed their naked swords in her 
face, while others ran theirs through the body of their victim 
while clinging to her dress for protection. This was only three 
months before the birth of James L, of England, and it is an 
interesting physiological fact that James, though not a coward, 
during his whole life could not bear to look upon a drawn 
sword. Well may blood spilled under conditions so diabolical 
have left a stain that neither time nor art has been able to re- 
move. Could we examine the souls of these brutal murderers 
they would present a deeper blood stain than this floor. 

Visited the Nelson monument, also the National Burns mon- 



250 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

ument, \Yhich to me is of more interest than all others here. 
This monument is constructed with much artistic taste, and re- 
flects credit upon this highly-cultured people. It contains 
many relics, souvenirs of the highly-gifted, but unfortunate, 
national poet. 

A?fg. i^th. — Visited the National x^ntiquarian Museum, 
containing a most excellent collection of stone and bronze im- 
plements, antique iron weapons, and instruments of torture, 
among them the guillotine with which Morton was beheaded 
in 1 581, and after him many others. Its iron blade was rusted 
from human gore, while its every joint creaked with the groans 
of its hapless victims. Saw also John Knox's old battered 
pulpit, and the camp stool which the hysterical, fanatical old 
maid, Jenny Giddes, threw at the Dean of St. Giles while he 
was reading the liturgy. For this she should have been treated 
to the " ducking-stool," but the Dissenters continuing in the 
ascendancy she was deemed worthy of immortality. For much 
less offences these sterling old Covenanters have imprisoned, 
hung or beheaded others who happened to differ with them in 
articles of faith. Well, after all, what is the use of believing 
anything if we do not make others think as we do? 

Just outside St. Giles Cathedral is a stone with the letters 
J. K. in brass, which marks the spot where John Knox was 
buried. Near by is the old Talbooth, or old Parliament House, 
afterwards a prison, famous as the " Heart of Mid-Lothian." 
Not far off, in a small irregular piece of ground, is a fine statue 
of Charles I. I asked an intelligent old Scotchman, who, see- 
ing we were strangers, was kindly pointing out these things to 
us, why they did not erect a monument over this truly great 
man? He replied that all parties were not agreed on this, and 
such an attempt might result in the destruction of the present 
statue or St. Giles, showing that the lawless spirit that has 
murdered their kings, imprisoned their queens, and beheaded 



EDINBURGH. 281 

their noblemen, or hung Dissenters, was not yet dead, only 
sleeping, perhaps kept so by the dominant conservatism of 
England. 

St. Giles of course was formerly a Catholic cathedral, but 
after it came into the possession of the Covenanters they re- 
moved every relic of what they termed idolatry ; the paintings 
from the walls, the statues from the niches, crucifixes and high 
altar from their places, leaving it as bare of all ornamentation 
as a Dutch barn. Its beautiful long rows of columns, its high 
arches, are out of place, are dissonant with the present forms of 
worship. No one on entering it need be told that it was built 
for other forms of worship than that now here. Indeed these 
good people have about as much use for such a structure as a 
Highlander has for a knee buckle. 

MELROSE ABBEY. 

Made an excursion to Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford, one 
and a quarter hours run from Edinburgh. We reached Melrose 
Station. Near by is the ruins of Melrose Abbey, rendered 
classical as well as immortal by the genius of Sir Walter Scott. 
It is now, and has long been, in ruins, but grand and beautiful 
even in its ruins, and must have been one of the finest struc- 
tures in all Scotland. Plow hardly has time and neglect dealt 
with this once beautiful structure, so imposing even in its 
broken arches and fallen columns, impressing us with the 
sense of awe and reverence we might feel in walking among 
the broken tombstones of our fathers. It is, I suppose, its very 
ivy-covered ruins that clothe it with an interest even greater 
than we feel in more splendid but better preserved cathedrals. 
We spent an hour musing among its all-silent ruins, and in en- 
deavoring to decipher the corroded inscriptions upon its crumb- 
ling arches, around which the ivy clung as if in the vain attempt 
to prevent their decay. 

From here we drove over to Scott's home, Abbotsford, 



26 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

which has but little to recommend it, other than that it was the 
home of Scotland's immortal poet and novelist, from whose 
fertile brain every stone and rafter was coined. It is in the 
possession of his great-grand-daughter, is not a prepossessing 
structure, and is badly located, being in a low, flat situation 
near the river Tweed, which meanders through the meadow 
some 200 yards in front of the villa. Much of it is copied 
from old castles and ruined abbeys. I noticed several old 
stones taken from ivy-covered ruins with quaint inscriptions 
upon them, some of them hundreds of years old, built in the 
walls, his library-room and valuable library-chair and writing- 
table, much as he left them. A long room is filled with 
armory — guns, pistols, swords, spears, etc., two pistols taken 
from Napoleon at Waterloo among them, Rob Roy's gun, 
Montrose's sword, James IV. armor. The keys of the old 
Talbooth prison at Edinburgh, together with many portraits of 
kings, emperors and great men, also a great many bric-a -braes 
or keepsakes given him by kings and historic persons. Indeed 
every part of the house contains articles dear to the lovers of 
this great man. It is to the literary world holy ground, and to 
none more so than Americans, who are as familiar with the 
works of Scott as the Scots themselves. We were pained to 
see that these frugal money-loving, penny-saving, canny Scots 
were careful to profit by the desire all lovers of their ancestor 
feel to see any and everything hallowed by association with 
him. A shilling is levied upon every visitor, some fifty of 
whom were at the house while we were in it. And I was in- 
formed that the Saturday, previous 1,200 persons visited this 
house. This, it is quite safe to say, gives $20,000 collected 
annually from strangers who turn aside to do homage at the 
shrine of genius. Would not the same want of veneration and 
love of money induce these loving descendants to sell his 
bones to the soap boiler? Having loitered here some hours. 



EDINBURGH. 283 

late in the evening we drove back to Melrose and took train 
for Edinburgh. 

Aug. i^th. — Left Edinburgh at 10:30 a. m. for Stirling, 
where we arrived at 2 p. m,, and put up at Hotel Royal. After 
dinner we visited the old castle, which stands upon a project- 
ing promontory, some 300 feet above the valley of the Forth. 
This was long one of the strongholds of Scodand, and the 
residence of her kings. James I. and James II. of Scotland 
were bom here. On the esplanade, now used as a parade 
ground for the garrison here, is a splendid statue of Robert 
the Bruce, and other statues of distinguished Scotch heroes. 
Within the grounds is a small chapel built by Mary. Within 
the castle we were shown the Douglas room, where James I. 
cowardly, treacherously, murdered his unsuspecting, invited 
guest, the Earl of Douglas, a most cowardly dastardly deed, 
such as none but a Stewart could have perpetrated, a.nd had 
justice prevailed against might, his infamous carcass would 
have ornamented a rope's end. 

From the parapets of this castle we obtain one of the finest 
views in Scotland. Before us lies the beautiful and ferdle valley 
of the Forth, the most fertile of all Scotland. The railroad 
from Edinburgh to Stirling runs up this valley, which stretches 
from the Frith of Forth to near Loch Katrine. At this point 
three streams or small rivers unite to form the Forth, which is 
seen as a great serpent winding in a silver stream through the 
valley. It is a beautiful, winding, crooked stream, bending 
now in a long curve around some projectmg point, now mean- 
dering through the meadows, and so fertile is the valley that 
it is said truly " a crook of the Forth is worth a county in the 
North." 

Sunday. — Visited Greyfriars church, in which Mary, 
queen of Scotland, was crowned, as was also her son James VI. 
of Scotland, afterwards James I. of England. Queen Mary's 



2S4 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

coronation sermon was preached by John Knox, in which in 
his fearful denunciations of papacy he included and insulted 
his unfortunate, lovely, helpless queen ; and this at a time 
when her lawless nobles, taking advantage of her helplessness 
as a woman and the turbulence of the times, were plotting her 
destruction ; and for this, though a thousand times a saint, I 
would not like him. Her sin with diis earnest reformer, Knox, 
was her religion. She was a Catholic, and therefore to be de- 
stroyed. O, that these turbulent nobles had had her grand- 
father, Henry YH., or her uncle, Henry VHI., to deal with. 
As it was, they hunted her down, betrayed, insulted, and finally 
sold her to the EngHsh, who ///tvr //>///)' ended her life of sorrow 
by chopping off her head by order of her coussin,^<?^^ queen Bess. 
But, we are told, she was wicked. This was related of her by 
those who betrayed and murdered her. I believe it not. In 
looking upon her portrait, I behold in her beautiful, sweet, sad 
face a reflex of all the virtues — a face that could not be kissed 
into a more perfect reflex of heaven by all the cherubs that float 
around the bright Elysium. Heaven makes no such mistakes 
as to connect this sweet face with an impure soul. In visiting 
the castle, we pass through the old cemetery where many of 
these old covenanters who stood for God and liberty are 
buried. Peace to their ashes ! Upon these old tomb-stones 
are many quaint inscriptions which carry us back vividly to 
the times of the Long Parliament. In the evening walked 
over to the Abbey of Camberkenneth, founded by David I. in 
1 147. The Abbey, like Melrose Abbey, has long been in 
ruins, only the tower and gallery remain. The foundations of 
the entire Abbey, hoAvever, are quite distinctly traced. Imme- 
diately under the high altar James 11. was buried. His tomb 
mouldered to decay with the Abbey that enclosed it, but has 
been restored and enclosed with an iron railing by his grateful 
descendant, Victoria, and thus the resting-place of the dust of 



EDINBURGH. 285 

the son of a base murderer has been rescued from oblivion by 
England's c[ueen. From the old Abbey we walked two or 
three miles to a lofty eminence upon which stood a beautiful 
monument to Wallace, who occupied these heights which com- 
mand the valley the evening preceding the battle of Stirling 
in which the English suffered a disastrous defeat. 

On approaching the monument we noticed on the door, 
which was closed, "Admittance 2d. on all lawful days," 
which means that it is open on six days in the week, for which 
two pence is exacted, but on Sundays, which are unlawful 
days, it is closed. We stood here a moment to ponder upon 
the blind and destructive folly of these good people in closing 
this as well as all other innocent resorts — except churches — on 
Sundays. No parks, no reading-rooms or pleasure resorts are 
allowed old or young, on unlawful days, Sundays, which are 
made Jewish Sabbaths, a Jewish institution for which there is 
no authority other than that found in Jewish laws and customs, 
none whatever in the acts or teachings of Christ ; and yet are 
these people Jews or Christians? Do they love the Jews, 
whose laws and institutions they thus honor above those of 
Christ ? How much better it would be to throw open this 
historical, pleasant and innocent resort, free on " unlaivful 
days," charging, if they wish, two pence, or twice this amount, 
on lawful days. How pleasantly, how innocently, how in- 
structively and profitably might the children of the poor of 
Stirling and vicmity spend the unlawful days in visiting this 
their national monument, and receiving from its impressive 
presence patriotic inspirations. By closing it on Sundays, or 
by not throwing open its door on this day free, they exclude 
all those whose struggle for existence forbid their visiting it on 
any other, and thus shut out the very people who most need 
patriotic culture. But were the masses allowed this innocent 
recreation and profitable pleasure the churches might have 
fewer unwilling attendants. 



286 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

While musing on these things, I walked slowly towards our 
hotel in Stirling ; when midway, and just after crossing the 
bridge over the Forth, I passed an unpretentious wooden 
structure, from behind which came two lads, well dressed and 
evidently of good famiHes. deeply under the intluence of 
whiskey, half drunk. This was most natural, denied all rational, 
innocent enjoyment they sought this den of vice. " The devil 
finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do," and were these 
good people as wise as devout, they would know that the 
means they employ for making saints are just those the devil 
would suggest for preventing the growth of morals — an enforced 
idleness — and then if we must have a Sabbath it should be 
Saturday, as there is no authority by precept or example for 
any other day. Yet with all this we gratefully acknowledge our 
indebtedness to this grand, great and noble people. 

A7ig. lyt/i. — Left Stirling at lo a. m. for Loch Lomond, 
via the Trossachs and Loch Katrine. We ascended the 
Forth to its origin in Loch Ord, a beautiful small lake in a 
mountain cailon. We wound around Loch Con and through 
the wild mountain gorge, every foot of which has been made 
classical by the pen of Scott. Li the wildest of this wild 
region we passed the well of Rob Roy, whose ghost, I doubt 
not, still lingers here, as it is just the place I would expect it to 
most delight in. I felt glad I had company, and that it was 
in midday. I most certainly would not like to be here alone 
in the night. I got out of the diligence and gathered some 
beautiful heather in memory of Rob Roy's well. Both the 
bell and true heather grow here to a perfection and beauty I 
found no where else and were in full bloom. The road runs 
through a dry gorge, then skirts a small mountain lake, where 
Fitz James met Rhoderick Dhu, by the Trossachs to Loch 
Katrine, where we take steamer for quite the length of its 
romantic, crystal water. 



EDINBURGH. 287 

Shortly after leaving the lower end of the lake the steamer 
passes the classic isle, Ellen's Isle, where the lady of the lake 
met Fitz' James — a very gem, an embossed pearl, bright as 
the eyes of its lovely mistress, for whom alone it was a fitting 
home. The palace had decayed, not a vestige remained, and 
yet who so dull as to be unable to replace its ivy-stone ? The 
isle and the crystal water that surrounds it, made classic by the 
muse of Sir Walter Scott, will live in the hearts of those who 
love the pure, the beautiful, as long as Ben Venu shall cast his 
protecting shadows over its silver sheen. 

The water supply of the city of Glasgow is obtained from 
this lake. But though the water is clear and cool, the lake is 
surrounded by peat bogs which cover the highest mountains to 
their very summits, and it is found to contain millions of micro- 
scopical particles of vegetable matter, consequently not whole- 
some. Ben Venu stands as a sombre sentinel over Loch 
Katrine, whose crystal waters, as though in pride, reflect his 
grim outline. This rough oudine of the mountain-sentinel, as 
reflected from the transparent bosom of the lake, reminds us 
of a Tartar savage guarding the palace of a fairy (peen. 

The steamer lands at the Northern extremity of the lake, at 
Hotel Shannocklochen, a short name for a long hotel, at which 
point we take diligence for Loch Lomond. The road runs 
through a wild mountain gorge, skirting a beautiful lake from 
which descends a stream of water, quite a mountain torrent, 
to Loch Lomond. Near its junction with the lake it rushes 
over boulders, breaks into beautiful cascades and leaps over 
falls. At one of these the water falls twenty-five feet with a 
wild, picturesque beauty which throws a charm over the Inver- 
snaid Hotel and its picturesque surroundings. Charmed with 
the beauty of this place and the neatness and comfort of the 
hotel, we remained here several days. This point, Inversnaid, 
is crowded with tourists, who are constantly arriving here and 



288 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

departing, some on their way to Loch Katrine, others, like our- 
selves, in the reverse direction, from Katrine to Glasgow by 
way of Loch Lomond. 

INVERSNAID. 

Next morning before breakfast we walked down to the 
romantic little wharf on the lake shore, some fifty yards from 
the hotel, and as we were returning to the house we saw stand- 
ing upon the rocky pinnacle of the mountain that overhangs the 
hotel a woman, who we supposed one of a party of tourists 
who had left the hotel at daylight and gone up there, as we 
had often seen done in Switzerland and Germany. Not 
doubting that the point was readily accessible, and as it over- 
looked the lakes, the constant resort of travelers, it never 
occurred to us that the point was not the common resort of 
tourists, that in fiict it was almost entirely inaccessible and had 
perhaps almost never been pressed by stranger's feet. How 
could we have thought so when we had the evidence to the 
contrary before our eyes, and then I had been all summer 
accustomed in Switzerland to go, with other tourists, men 
and women, over mountains much higher, sometimes before 
breakfast, taking refreshments at a cafe on its sides or 
summit. 

After breakfast, I started off to make the ascent, but after 
passing some straw-thatched hovels on the hillside, some half 
a mile from the hotel, I lost all trace of a path, but as I was 
without a guide, I supposed I had only missed the road and 
would certainly meet it again on my farther progress, not 
doubting but a good road or path led to the top, where we 
had seen the tourists. With this feeling I pushed on with 
difficulty and soon came not upon a path but a wide depres- 
sion or valley in the mountain, over which spread a deep, 
rough peat bog. I crossed this with great difficulty, leaping 



INVERSNAID. 289 

over slimy pools from one tuft of peat to another, often sink- 
ing half way to the top of my boots m mud and water with 
the certainty that should I miss the unsteady tuft I might sink 
out of sight in the treacherous mire. After crossing this hol- 
low and ascending to the summit of what I had supposed the 
top of the mountain, found that I had another peat bog to 
cross and another hill to climb, which I did with great labor 
and difficulty, the entire distance being a miry peat bog ; and 
not until two hours of laborious effort, was I able to reach 
the rocky projection upon which we had seen the tourists in 
the morning. And here I saw that the real summit was a 
mile or more beyond me, but as I had climbed thus far, over 
not only a difficult, but dangerous, way, where to return was as 
dangerous as to go on, I determined to go ahead, and then 
I hoped by doing so, I would fall in with the road or path, as I 
still did not doubt but such existed, yet I felt the effort was 
greatly beyond my strength, as I was quite exhausted and felt 
that it was necessary for me to get into the road, as it would 
be almost impossible for me to again cross this miry bog, and 
no one could come to my assistance. In very desperation 
then I started for the distant summit, feeling that should I fail 
to reach it, my body would soon sink out of sight — would never 
be found. In vain I regretted the foolish venture, but as is 
often the case, these repentings came when too late. To 
advance or retreat was perhaps equally perilous, but then a 
forward movement had at least this advantage, that I did not 
know what was ahead of me, and I might hope for the best, 
while to retrace my steps, the difficulties and dangers were too 
well known to permit a hope. Finally, and- when nearly dead, 
I reached the top, a wide, flat, rocky summit, whose forbid- 
ding waste had perhaps never been visited, except by an occa- 
sional shepherd boy. A few loose stones were piled up as if 
done to employ a lonesome hour. 



290 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

I remained heie an hour or more in the enjoyment of the 
beautiful panorama spread out around and below me, which 
with our fine glasses were brought into great distinctness. Two 
thousand feet below me on one side of the mountain was Loch 
Katrine, with its bright tlashing waters at its southern extrem- 
ity, with Ellen's Isle hiding itself behind Ben Venn. On the 
other side, and almost directly under me, was Loch Lomond, 
with its upper extremity just above the hotel, termi- 
nating abrupdy, jutting m against a bold, wild head- 
land, whose frowning rocks were scarcely less inviting than 
its fields of heather, that our experience had now taught us 
covered forbidding peat bogs, Towards its southern extremity 
it extended far away, dividing into a thousand channels, em- 
bracing as many little islands, that in the distance- looked 
scarcely larger than so manv boats surrounded with bands of 
silver. These stretched on and on until lost in the protecting 
shadow of Ben Lomond, the giant of these highland mountains. 
But the interest of this beautiful view from this lofty summit, 
only centered, was not embraced, in these bright lakes. The 
distant view w^as grand and awe-inspiring from its very sombre, 
sterile stillness. Around me stretched in the distance heather- 
covered hill beyond hill, embracing the almost entire extent of 
the highlands of Scotland. But I looked in vain for what to 
me would have been a far more pleasant view than all the 
highlands — a road or path. None was here — no use for one 
except to me — none other had ever had use for it. In all my 
dreary, dangerous ascent I had not seen even a sheep-path, 
nothing for sheep to feed upon, no birds, for the same reason. 
In all the morning I had only seen now and then a stray 
sheep that startled at the sight of a man, and had 
startled from their safe hiding place only two or three frightened 
grouse that had taken shelter here from the sportsmen on the 
surrounding hills. I now looked at my watch, and found that 



GLASGOW. 29 I 

I had been absent from the hotel three hours, and knew that 
my wife would be alarmed, and yet the perils of the descent 
were be-fore me. These I found much the same I had en- 
countered in the ascent — except the difficulty of climbing. I 
plunged down, leaping from, one tuft to another, meeting not 
with a single foot track of man or beast. When about two- 
thirds of the way down I hailed two young men, natives, who my 
wife in her alarm had sent out to search for me. Farther on I 
met a servant from the hotel sent out to search for me. After 
I had been gone for some time my wife mentioned to the 
hotel keeper where I had gone, and inquired if there was any 
danger, when he frightened her by saying I was very impru- 
dent to attempt it, as there was no path, that it was never 
climbed even by the natives, as it was a treacherous peat bog 
and nothing to climb it for. But my wife remarked that we 
had seen persons, which we supposed were tourists from the 
hotel, upon its top. that morning, and among them a woman. 
He assured her that no one had gone from the hotel, that 
tourists never ascended it, and that it was utterly impossible 
for a woman to do so, that it must have been some shepherd- 
boy she had seen, and that he had never seen even these upon 
it ; that he had never been upon its top, nor conversed with 
one who had. Not that it was positively inaccessible to a 
man, but that its ascent would be at least very difficult, and 
then there was nothing to climb it for. This, of course, had 
greatly frightened my wife, who had sent out all hands to hunt 
for, and rescue, me. When I arrived at the hotel I had not a 
dry thread upon me. My clothes were as wet from prespiration 
as if I had swam the lake, and I was so much exhausted that 
I remained in bed the remainder of the day. 

GLASGOW. 
Left Inversnaid for Glasgow on steamer, passing the whole 
length of Loch Lomond, a beautiful sheet of water some twenty 



292 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

miles long, and six miles wide at its lower end. Passed Rob 
Roy's prison — a cave in the rocky wall — passed along the base 
of Ben Lomond, whose lofty summit towers above the lake as 
a great sentinel standing here to guard the spirit of the lake. 
At Balloch we took train for Glasgow, twenty-two miles, where 
we arrived at 2 p. ini. 

Glasgow, the most wealthy, populous and important com- 
mercial city of Scotland, is a wretched, dirty, smoky place, 
truly undesirable for, perhaps, any other purpose than money 
making. 

Took steamer Columbia for an excursion down the Clyde 
and through the Frith. We were on this fine steamer from 
7 A. M. to 7 p. M., during which time it made the round trip, 
180 miles. During the trip we had a fine view of all this 
portion of the Highlands, together with the extensive ship 
building docks and yards of the Clyde, the most extensive in 
the world. 

AYR. 

Left Glasgow at 1:30 p. m. for Stranyer, by way of Ayr 
Arrived at Ayr at 4 p. m., and put up at the Wellington Hotel. 

The town of Ayr, rendered immortal by being the home of 
Burns, has some 20,000 inhabitants, has a fine harbor with 
docks, and is a thriving city with many neat and some fine 
residences. In wealth and comfort how changed since the 
greatest and most unfortunate of rural poets lived here. 

Aug. 22nd. — Took carriage and drove to the home of Burns, 
saw the house in which he was born, which 'is a low, straw- 
thatched stone buildnig in a good state of preservation. It was 
kept as a public inn, but has been bought by the Burns Asso- 
ciation and a man and woman placed in attendance. Many in- 
teresting rehcs of the poet are here, many photographs and a 
number of autographs, original manuscripts, letters, etc. I 
noticed in one of the glass cases the original manuscript of 



AYR. 293 

Tarn O'Shanter, with erasures and corrections. Burns himself 
always thought this his greatest production, an opinion in 
which I agree with him, and yet I am fully sensible of the fact, 
that he wrote many verses greatly superior to any poetry in 
Tam O'Shanter, but nothing of so much invention. There 
are numerous small articles kept for sale here. . We purchased 
several souvenirs of the immortal Bard of Ayrshire. A little 
beyond this house is the Old Kirk of Alloway, where Tam en- 
countered the witches. The old church is roofless and long 
since in ruins. In the gable hangs the bell as it was in the 
days of Burns, also the nook in which Old Nick played the 
fiddle, and the window through which Tam saw the witches 
dancing, and out of which they flew after him, are still seen. 
Visited the churchyard where are graves and tombstones with 
quaint inscriptions, some of them 250 years old. Among these 
are the graves of Burns' father and mother and younger sister. 
Saw also the grave of Tam O'Shanter who was a veritable 
person by the name of Graham. How these graves by their 
association with the immortal bard hallow this place ! In vain 
the Old Kirk of Alloway will yield stone after stone to the tooth 
of time, like the poet it is immortal, stereotyped in the mem- 
ories of men, to be transmitted to children's children to the 
latest times ! From here we were enabled to trace the line of 
Tam's ride from the Inn where he parted with his friend Sauter 
Johnny until he crossed the bridge that spans the Bonny 
Doon. This line was pointed out by an old Scotchman who 
lives among the tombs, and from his venerable appearance and 
familiarity with everything connected with Burns and Tam, 
may have been with them in their visits to this Old Kirk. It 
may be he touched glasses with Burns, if not, he embodies the 
very spirit of the times in which Tam lived. 

After lingering here for some time, we went to Burns' mon- 
ument, a beautiful structure, built by the public, and well 



294 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL 



becoming the memory of this divinely inspired self-taught plow- 
boy. Would to G(jd a discerning public could so far have 
appreciated this great-souled, unfortunate, neglected, starving 
man, as to have contributed a tithe of this and other struc- 
tures erected to his memory to him and his family in his day 
To the disgrace of his age and country, chill penury was per- 
mitted to repress the aspirations of his noble soul, and after 
a manly but unequal combat, he fell beneath fortune's wheel, 
his manhood and genius crushed — when driven to strong drink, 
as is too often the case, he was wrecked ere half his work was 
done. How vain the pomp of monuments to him who was 
left to suffer, to starve. Every stone in Old Alloway, every rip- 
ple of Bonny x\yr or Doon, shall bear though ages all the wail 
for this neglect. And yet, though coming too late to benefit 
him they are intended to honor, as the testimonials of a grate- 
ful posterity to his immortal worth, they can but be pleasing to 
his disembodied spirit, which we can but believe still haunts 
the banks of the bonny streams where in life he was wont to 
muse, and whose names and beauties he has stamped in verse 
that will outlive his marble monument. Near by his monu- 
ment, in a neat little stone building is the wondrous, sand- 
stone statue of Tam O'Shanter and his boon companion, Sau- 
ter Johnny, as they appeared at the ale house on the night 
of Tam's adventurous ride. 

This remarkable work, the best of its kind I ever saw by any 
sculptor, ancient or modern, is by a young, untaught native 
artist, who, in his line, was not less gifted than Burns in his, 
and who unfortunately died young and before he had per- 
formed other works. These statues are worthy the chisel of 
Thorwaldsen or Canova. Indeed I doubt Avhether either of 
these justly celebrated sculptors ever produced an ideal work 
so suggestive. Just beyond this, alongside of a little flower 
garden, is the old bridge, spanning the Bonny Doon, across 



AYR. 



95 



which Tarn rode on that fearful night, where his nag Meg 
saved her rider but lost her own grey tail, Tam being saved 
by the skin of his teeth, and only because the witches could 
not cross running water. The old bridge, a rude stone struc- 
ture, is standing yet, in a tolerable state of preservation, but 
only foot passengers are allowed to cross it. We walked over 
the Doon on this bridge, as have tens of thousands of others, 
with feelings of almost idolatrous regard for this place, rendered 
immortal by Ayr's unfortunate bard, and not entirely without 
a belief in witches. The Doon ■ is really a beautiful stream 
and deserving of all the regard the poet had for it. We drove 
by the ale house where Tam and Johnny drank their ale. 
Called to see a relation of Burns', an old maiden lady, whose 
memory is replete with all things concerning Burns. 

Visited the old bridge of the Twa Brigs of Ayr, and crossed 
over it on foot, as, like the bridge of the Doon, foot passengers 
only are allowed to cross it. Both these bridges are very 
properly deemed too sacred for ordinary use. How wonder 
ful the genius that could thus embalm and sanctify these old 
structures in the memory and hearts of a grateful people. 
This bridge, as an inscription on its walls informs us, was 
built in 1252. Its construction is rude, but surprisingly good 
for the time in which it was built. Let us but think what was 
the state of Scotland at that day and what this old bridge has 
seen. It has witnessed mailed knights as they departed to the 
Holy Land, has withstood the storms of the middle ages, saw 
the dawn of the Renaissance, and was old when printing was 
invented. It owes its origin to two old maiden ladies, who 
bequeathed their entire fortune for its erection. The portraits 
of these two public benefactors were carved in the rude stone 
wall that rises above the floor of the bridge, but all likeness in 
these images has disappeared, either by the ravages of 630 
years, or by passing fingers over them. 



296 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Previous to the erection of this bridge the Ayr was crossed 
on stepping-stones, and when swollen by rains was dangerous 
or impassable. Peace to the memory of these two noble mind- 
ed, public spirited women ! The other of the Twa Brigs has 
been replaced by a fine new structure since Burns' day. 

Aug. 24th. — Left the pleasant city of Ayr, the birth-place 
of Burns, for Stranyer. Remained all night at the pleasant, 
home-like hotel George. Left next morning for Lome, in 
Ireland. The voyage is made in a good steamer, distance 
forty miles. The day was calm and beautiful and the channel 
remarkably smooth. Stopped at the old Fleet Hotel, a filthy 
den. Preferred not to sleep between dirty sheets, and, not being 
able to procure clean ones, we paid for a room for a day, 
though not using it, and left for Belfast, where we arrived at 
8 p. M., and put up at the very excellent hotel, Royal Avenue. 

BELFAST. 

Aug. 26th. — Made an excursion to the Giant's Causeway, a 
singularly beautiful rocky construction. Tens of thousands 
(I believe forty thousand have been counted) of columnar 
masses are seen covering a large area. Some of these are 
thirty or forty feet high and packed so closely together that 
even water would not pass between them. They are basaltic 
crystals and are of a pentagonal, hexagonal and rhomboidal 
shape. The whole presenting much the appearance of a 
magnified honeycomb. 

These columns run down into and are lost in the water of 
the channel, and it is said that a similar construction is observ- 
able on the opposite EngHsh coast, showing that its formation 
was previous to the formation of the channel that separates 
Ireland from England. Its regular masonic formation gives it 
strikingly the appearance of having been made by human 
hands. So much so is this the case that my wife thinks yet it 
was so formed, and hence its name, Giant's Causeway, as it was 



BELFAST. 297 

thought that in prehistoric times, mentioned by Moses, " And 
there were giants on the earth in those days," these giants had 
constructed this causeway to connect the two islands. It is, 
however, a natural formation, resulting at the time the earth's 
surface cooled, by the existence at this point of a mass of 
liquid basalt, which on cooling formed these beautiful, uniform 
crystals, and are just such columns as might now be formed 
were an equal mass of basaltic matter cooled down to a point 
of solidity. It is, however, a beautiful result, and must always, 
as now, interest both the ignorantand scientist. We are here 
certainly and instructively brought into direct resultant con- 
nection with a time when our earth revolved in space as a liquid 
mass, with an intensity of heat beyond conception, compared 
to which, iron at a white heat would scarcely appear hot. 

The coast along which we traveled was the most beautiful 
we have anywhere seen. The night previous there had been 
quite a storm on the channel, in which one vessel had gone 
ashore, and the wind was still quite fresh, so much so that the 
white-crested waves rolled in long swells, and broke in beauty 
and grandeur against the foot of the cliff along which we were 
traveling. After having spent the entire day we returned to 
Belfast at 9 p. m. 

Belfast is an important commercial and manufacturing city of 
some 200,000 inhabitants. Perhaps, Dublin excepted, it is 
the most important city in all Ireland, its trade extending to 
all parts of the world. 

We visited the harbor, which is crowded with steamers and 
merchant ships, presenting quite a business appearance. The 
imports and exports last year amounted to the great sum of 
$130,000,000. The city is well built, with many important 
and really fine buildings, churches, colleges, etc. The streets 
are wide and clean. On Queen's Square is a lofty monument 
to Prince Albert. We failed to see any beauty or signifi- 



298 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

cance in this structure, unless it is a manifestation of loyalty 
to the rulers of England, and this perhaps is genuine, as 
this part of Ireland is in closer sympathy with England than 
other parts of the island, or, indeed with the other portions of 
Ireland. The entire city presents the appearance of thrift and 
industry. It is the most important linen market in the world, 
not an insignificant portion of its capital and industry being 
connected with this. Of course we made purchases of Irish 
linen articles that are manufactured here in a profusion, 
beauty and perfection quite irresistible to an American. 

Aug. 28th. — Left Belfast for Dublin. The route passes 
through Drogheda. This highly-important town in the history 
of Ireland possesses now but little to interest the tourist. A 
part of the old wall with which the town was formerly sur- 
rounded, is still standing. Near here was fought the decisive 
and, by the Irish, forever-to-be-remembered battle of the 
Boyne, where the desperate valor and personal daring of the 
ill-disciplined Irish went down before the discipline and valor 
of the English. 

The country between Belfast and Dublin is an extended 
agricultural district in the highest state of cultivation. The 
soil is thin and requires careful husbandry. But such is the 
care and skillful culture that a full yield of barley, wheat, oats, 
potatoes and rye is obtained. Perhaps the yield is quite as 
great as with us on our virgin soil. The towns and villages 
are neat, and the entire country presents an appearance, if not 
of thrift, certainly not of destitution. The houses are mostly 
of stone, low one-story, with roofs of straw. The amount of 
destitution, want, poverty, degredation, starvation, so gener- 
ally in our country associated with Ireland and the Irish peo- 
ple, most certainly is not seen here — belongs not to all this 
northern or middle portion of Ireland. Arrived at Dublin at 
6 p. M. 



DUBLIN- 299 

DUBLIN. 

Dublin, the capital and largest and most important city of 
Ireland, has but little to interest the tourist. We put up at 
the large and most excellent Hotel Shelborn, in front of 
Stevens' Green, one of the principal parks of Dublin. St. Pat- 
rick's Cathedral is the most important church. According to 
legends, this fine Gothic structure dates back to the mythical 
times of St. Patrick. 

As we were here in the heart of a Catholic city — and as 
with us almost everything connected with St. Patrick is Cath- 
olic, we were not a little surprised to find this not a Catholic 
church. It is a Protestant church and has an interesting history, 
embracing much of the history of Dublin, indeed of Ireland. 
A great number of banners belonging to the Knights of St. 
Patrick, and other insignia, are hanging upon the walls. There 
are many tombs and monuments to great men in the church. 
Among these was that to the eccentric, talented Dean Swift, 
and his strange and unfortunate Mrs. Johnstone, " Stella." 
flow strange and mysterious the relation between those two 
persons, and how unfortunate ! The one died broken-hearted, 
and the other from softening of the brain, perhaps from grief 
for her loss, or remorse. Who can tell? The strange relation, 
connection or association between these two unfortunate per- 
sons was a secret, known only to themselves, and can only be 
given up at the Last Day, and yet all the world washes that, now 
that the storms of life are past, they may rest well. 

Aug. joth. — Visited Phoenix Park, rendered famous by the 
murder here in open daylight of the Lord Lieutenant of Ire- 
land, Lord Cavendish, and his under-secretary, Burke, by mis- 
guided Irish patriots. O, Liberty, how many crimes have 
been committed in thy sacred name ! We drove by the spot 
where their dead bodies were found, in an open ground, oa 
the public highway, in view^ of every passer-by. It is almost 



300 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

impossible that this deed should have been committed without 
being seen by one or many persons. The probabilities are 
that those who saw it were either in sympathy with the mur- 
derers or were afraid to inform upon them or even to let it be 
known that they witnessed it. The spot where they fell is 
marked by two small holes by the roadside some ten feet apart. 
Well, fortunately for the best interests of society — of man — 
" murder will out," and after much delay these misguided men 
paid the penalty by the forfeiture of their Hves. Had these 
deeds been committed against any power less civilized and 
conservative than Great Britain it is fearful to think what would 
have been the consequences. Suppose such a deed had been 
committed in Cromwell's day ; half of Dublin would have been 
sacrificed. 

Phoenix Park is seven miles in circumference and contains 
1,700 acres. It is a beautiful park, with extensive drives, 
graveled walks, shaded paths, flowery trees, monuments, etc. 
Wellington's monument is 265 feet high. Thousands of deer 
of many kinds are grazing as quietly and tamely as so many 
cattle. We counted 140 in one herd. In early summer, when 
the hawthorn and chestnut trees are in bloom, this park must 
be most beautiful. 

Although in August, the day was cold, damp, disagreeable, 
so much so that when we returned to the hotel we were thor- 
oughly chilled, really suffering from cold. We noticed the 
blackberry bushes in the park full of green fruit and flowers 
and were told by the carraige driver that these would ripen, 
yet this was thelatter part of August. Strange ! I am quite 
sure with us fruit would never ripen in such a temperature, 
with the weather almost cold enough for snow. If fruit ever 
ripens here with this absence of heat and sunshine it must 
necessarily be very indifferent, can contain little or no sugar, 
and yet it may be that these people, unaccustomed to better, 



DUBLIN. 301 

and ignorant of the excellence of this same fruit when ripening 
under more favorable skies, as with us, may think it quite good. 
I am sure no American would think so. I may mention that 
harvest is just beginning and much of the grain will not be 
harvested before the loth of September, at which time we are 
sowing wheat for the next year's crop. 

Drove over and through Dublin, which really possesses but 
little of interest to the tourist. Perhaps no city of Europe 
possesses less. Is this because of the misfortunes of this un- 
fortunate people, who possess a native talent of the highest 
order and are intellectually capable of doing whatever man can 
do ? Visited the poorer quarter of the city, where we met 
with an amount of poverty nowhere else seen. Hundreds of 
badly-clothed women and half naked children are seen with 
faces unwashed and tangled, unkempt hair, that looked as though 
it had not been combed since they left their cradles. Here the 
long misrule and fearful misfortunes of the land are seen in the 
changes they have wrought upon the people. And the end is 
not yet. 

Aug. jist. — Left Dublin at 7:15 a. m. for Holyhead. The 
morning was dark and misty, with a fresh wind blowing from 
the southeast, presaging storms, and as a gale had been predict- 
ed for this or the following day wife was much alarmed lest 
one should strike us before we reached the opposite shore. 
The steamers on this line are of the finest class and make the 
surprising time of 18 miles an hour, crossing the channel, 64 
miles, in 3 1-2 hours, wh ich speed would rapidly get us out of 
danger. I asked the captain about the predicted storm. He 
thought we would have one and was evidently expecting one 
at any moment, and as the wind was momentarily increasing, 
with the air more murky, I noticed my watch not without in- 
terest. The previous night had been quite calm and the water 
was at first quite smooth, but before we reached the opposite 



30 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

shore the sea, in response to the increasing wind, was begin- 
ning to be quite rough. We, however, beat the storm, and 
had a good voyage across the channel. 

WALES. 

Holyhead, the point of departure and arrival of steamers to 
and from Dublin, is a busy seaport in Wales. We took the 
cars at this place for Chester. The road runs along the coast, 
passing many small towns and villages of more or less interest 
as bathing places. 

This northern coast section of Wales is among the most 
beautiful of Great Britain, not excepting the Highlands of 
Scotland. Much of the country is but poorly adapted to agri- 
culture, but the tact, industry and thrift of these hardy Welsh 
have surmounted seemingly impossible difficulties, and turned 
places sterile, and by nature uninviting, into fruitful fields and 
rich pastures. A general appearance of comfort and thrift 
characterizes the country. Along the coast the many litUe 
villages are inhabited principally by sea-faring people or col- 
liers and workers in foundries, as much of this section is un- 
derlaid with coal and iron. We arrived at Chester at 3 p. m., 
and after taking dinner at the Queen's Hotel ordered carriage 
and drove over the city. 

CHESTER. 

Chester has a population of some 40,000, is a mediaeval 
city, and in some respects one of the most interesting towns in 
the kingdom. It is a walled city and retains many of the 
features of the good olden times with the architecture of the 
Dark and early Middle Ages. It has possessed more or less 
interest since the beginning of the Christian era. In A. D. 60 
it was possessed and governed by the Roman troops. It par- 
took largely in the civil wars of the Roses, suffered from in- 



CHESTER. 303 

vesture and sieges, from which its high and strong wall, still in 
a good state of preservation, did not always protect it. And 
yet so high and strong are these walls that before the intro- 
duction of the present improved means of warfare they must 
have proved formidable barriers against assault. It is situated 
upon the small river Dee, which runs immediately alongside of 
its walls. 

We visited the old cathedral, first erected in the seventh 
century. It is a large structure built of old red sandstone, 
with Jofty buttresses and pinnacles-, architecture of the times 
of the Tudors. Inside are many monuments of men distin- 
guished in their day, some now forgotten. Rude, quaintly- 
carved oak stalls, with numerous niches and decorations in 
wood and stone. It was long a Catholic cathedral and con- 
nected with a rehgious order. But since the time of Henry 
VIII., when this order was abolished and its lands confiscated, 
it has been shorn of most of its internal splendor. The paint- 
ings, statues, and, most missed of all, the high altar, have been 
removed, and though still used as a place of worship, most of 
it is unprovided with even benches, showing it to be unused, 
most likely for want of worshipers. It is, even in this half- 
deserted condition, one of the most interesting cathedrals in 
Europe. And if Ichabod is written in its vacant places of 
worship, it only shows, and this it shows clearly, though men 
will not see it, that its massive structures have better withstood 
the ravages of time and change of thought than has the re- 
ligious sentiment among the people. And this I may truly 
say is not the only cathedral, massive and time-defying, we 
have visited in which the same fact is forcibly, unmistakably 
manifested. Talk as we may of our religion and its influence 
upon the masses, nothing is more certain than that if it ever 
did really control the thoughts and actions of Europe, it does 
so no longer. Let us moralize upon this as we may, it is cer 



304 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

tainly true, and this perhaps to an equal extent in Catholic as 
well as Protestant countries. 

We also visited a venerable pile, St. John's church, which 
was built by Ethelred, king of Mercia in the seventh century. 
The bell tower, which was standing until recently, is now a 
mass of shapeless ruins, having yielded to the storms of i,ooo 
years. Much ol the church, however, is in a tolerable good 
state of preservation. It stands upon the wall of a perpen- 
dicular cliff overhanging the Dee, which here washes the foot 
of the cliff. 

BRISTOL AND BIRMINGHAM. 

We left Chester for Stratford on Avon, passing through, 
first Bristol, which is the third largest town in England, with a 
population of 450,000; next, Birmingham, one of the great, 
perhaps the greatest, manufacturing cities of the world. Great 
forests of tall chimneys, from which issue volumes of smoke or 
livid flames, rendering day obscure and night ghastly, crowd 
the city, line the road and cover the country for miles in and 
around this entire Birmingham district. The city owes its 
importance to its vast iron manufactures. Indeed there is no 
part of the civilized world where Birmingham wares are not 
found. Situated in the midst of England's richest coal and 
iron district, it is a very Vulcan's forge, and nowhere else is 
her vast wealth and industry seen to better advantage. Much 
of the power of this mighty nation, whose commerce embraces 
the earth, originates, receives form, in the forges and work- 
shops of this district. But this enormous and constantly in- 
creasing use of iron now going on in England, while quicken- 
ing her industrial resources, points, I am sure, to exhaustion, 
if not in the near, certainly in the remote, future. Iron, by 
its cheapness and abundance has created a want for it not 
really existing in fact, as it is now employed for many pur- 
poses for which wood could be economically used. And 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 305 

while this use of iron appears to answer the very desirable 
purpose of Paving forests, it must sooner or later exhaust the 
iron supply of England. And iron cannot be grown, while 
forests can. And then the wasteful manner in which she is 
using her coals — shipping them to all parts of Europe, at a 
cost that only pays for the labor — yielding little or nothing for 
the coal, as coal, points again to exhaustion. And then what 
will England be when her coal and iron are exhausted ? But 
we may be told this is a very remote future. I do not believe 
it is as remote as we have been taught to consider it. But 
granting the truth of the calculations as to its duration, the 
life of a nation and a race of people, belong to the remote 
future. 

STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 

From Birmingham we continued on to Stratford-on-Avon, 
where we arrived, quite fatigued, at lo p. m., and put up at 
the Shakespear Hotel, a filthy place, where dirt and bad ac- 
commodations meet a compensation in high prices. We left 
this hotel next morning and obtained comfortable accommoda- 
tions at a small inn. 

Sept. 1st. — Stratford-on-Avon, the birth-place, home and 
burial ground of the world's greatest dramatic writer and poet, 
is a neat, quiet town of three or four thousand inhabitants. 
Visited the house in which Shakespear was born. It is an 
unpretentious building and yet has an air of philosophical im- 
portance, as though conscious of the merit it had received 
from its connection with Shakespear. After visiting it I im- 
agined I would have picked it out from the other houses of 
Stratford as the one that had a claim to this distinguished 
honor. It is now owned by the public, carefully preserved, 
and will doubtless last as long as the name and deeds of 
Shakespear shall bring to Stratford his worshipers. For be it 
known such places have the peculiar power of self-rejuvenation. 



3o6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

We have seen through Europe many places that were old and in 
ruins when touched by the immortalizing finger of genius that 
are new now. Keepers are here to show all matters connected 
with Shakespear to tourists. We were shown the room in 
which he was born. It is small, low and roughly-finished, yet 
quite as good as, and larger than, that m the castle of Edinburgh, 
in which was born James I. of England. Formerly it did not 
require as large a room for great men to be born in as at 
present. In an adjoining room is a desk with his name rudely 
cut upon it at which he is said to have learned his boyish 
lessons, and the rude old fireplace at which he was wont to sit 
when a child while listening to the relation of nursery tales and 
ghost stories — all are here, and with the exception of the desk, 
are possibly genuine. The positive assurance we feel of be- 
ing in the very rooms, and looking at much that witnessed his 
childish sports and development, brings us into the immediate 
presence of this immortal genius. How hallowed they are by 
this association. And as all things connected with Shakespear 
possess an immediate interest with us, we may state that the 
house itself is a rude plaster, stone and wooden one, with its 
entire architecture belonging to the times, and evidences the 
comfortable but unostentatious circumstances of, a man, neither 
great and rich, nor mean and poor, of the middle ages. Indeed 
this house evidences the fact that while Shakespear's father 
was, if not one of the gentry, doubtless a man of influence, 
belonging to the great upper middle classes, at whose house 
we would be most likely to meet with scholars, poets and min- 
strels, by whom were related many a bold adventure at home 
and abroad, all of which we can readily see this wondrous 
child drinking in, magnified, diversified, as it passed through 
the kaleidoscopic influence of his boyish brain. 

Numerous old simple things, such as pipes, knives and 
trinkets are kept and shown here, as having belonged to 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 307 

Shakespear, all of which we gladly believe, although we know 
that the testimony often rested upon dim traditions that might 
not stand careful scrutiny. But while it is so pleasant to see 
the knife that Shakespear had when a boy and the pipe he 
smoked on his visits here from London, who would be so 
stolid as to even doubt the fact, much less to institute an in- 
quiry as to their genumeness ? Thousands of names are 
written on the tables, walls, doors and ceiling by curious or ad- 
miring visitors, and while we had no thought of adding ours, 
we could well excuse the whim or "vanity of those who wrote 
them, as we were ready to believe all was in veneration for the 
immortal genius whose association had hallowed them. We 
were shown the chair in which he was accustomed to sit, and, 
as had done hundreds of thousands of others, sat down in it. 
Not as has often been written by prosy critics, with any hope 
of receiving thereby any portion of his genius, but with a feel- 
ing of regard for this old chair from the fact that if was 
Shakespear's 

Visited the grounds upon which stood the fine house he 
bought after he retired from the stage, left London and came 
home to spend the evening of his days with his family, and in 
which he lived and died. As had the old house some squares 
off witnessed his birth and childhood with his infant cries em- 
bodied in its walls, this had seen him in his prime, and its 
walls had often echoed the jocund laugh of himself and boon 
companions, or reverberated back the rythmical music of his 
voice, as he read to wife and children his immortal productions, 
at the recital of which good Queen Bess and her court beau- 
ties and cavaliers had laughed or wept. How sacred its mem- 
ories and how a gaping world would lend a quick ear to its re- 
citals, could these things be told. But this new house is not 
here now, only its sure foundations, which have been cleared 
of all rubbish, to show clearly the outline and shape of the 



3o8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

house, that at the time was the finest in Stratford, for Shake- 
spear was now a rich man. Long after his death this house 
was bought by an ill-humored, morose, unpoetical man, who 
lived on the adjoining property, and who was, in the meanness 
and unsympathetic nature of his soul, so much annoyed by 
the swarms of strangers from all parts of the world running 
here and over the grounds and through the house that had 
now for want of care fallen into decay, that, to stop what to 
him was a nuisance, he had it pulled down — razed to the ground. 
But to his utter amazement the crowd seemed only and ever 
to nicrease, and he was so much annoyed with this and being 
constantly, hourly, called upon, rung up to answer some ques- 
tion about the former occupant, and why the home had been 
destroyed, what he knew about it, etc., that he had a sentinel 
placed at his own door, and had engaged to have the lot en- 
closed with a blind wall, when in very rage at the world, which 
he verily believed had gone mad, and worn out with contend- 
ing with what he considered its insanity, he died, accursed by 
all the town, and should he remain in purgatory until posterity 
forgives him, he will remain as long as the memory of the 
wrong his vandalism did the world shall remain. Walking 
over this lot and measuring out the foundations of the house, 
we were again on sure grounds, there being no doubt about 
these being the foundations on and above which Shakespear 
died. We drank from the well, from which he so much de- 
lighted to drink, and it is a singular fact that the water of this 
well remains as it was in Shakespear's day, the purest, best 
water in all Stratford. In this yard stands the famous mulberry 
tree which Shakespear planted — no, not the one he planted, but 
an offshoot from it, the old tree being long since dead. This 
offshoot is a large old tree, and was full of ripe mulberries at 
the time of our visit. 

There is a new, fine memorial theatre erected to his memory 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 309 

and called the Shakespear Theatre. A most fitting memorial 

it is, and must be well-pleasing to his spirit, which we must 

believe still haunts this place, who in his day, did so much 

to purify, exalt, enoble the drama. Our own Mary Anderson, 

since Neilson's death, the greatest of tragediennes, had played 

here only two nights previous, to a crowded house of the elite 

of England, many of them having come up with her from 

London, and with great success, as Rosalind in "As you Like 

It." 

Visited the old parish church which he was accustomed to 

attend when a boy, and again in later days, and where he lies 

buried in the chancel. His name is not on the marble slab 

that covers his grave, but immediately above it in the wall is the 

world-renowned epitaph, written, it is believed, by himself, and 

engraven here at the time of his burial. 

"Blessed be he who spares these stones, 
And cursed be he that moves my bones." 

Immediately above this inscription is his bust, and as it is 
said this was placed here by his daughter, only seven years 
after his death, we must beheve it is a good likeness of the 
poet. This anathema upon " he who moves my bones," has 
prevented his grave being disturbed by anyone and prevented 
his dust being carried to Westminster Abbey, all men feeling 
a reverential or superstitious fear to enter here, even to do his 
ashes honor. So great is this belief in the power of the 
curse, that when, a few years since, a portion of the church 
foundation gave way, opening his vault, a watchman was 
employed to guard it, but was hardly needed, as so great was 
the reverence and so firm the belief m the power of the curse 
that neither the watchman nor one of the workmen dared even 
to look in to see what was in the vault, not doubting that 
should they do so some great and immediate calamity would 
befall them or perhaps the whole community. And no Strat- 



3IO SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

ford man could be found, even though a thief, who would have 
the temerity to enter this vault, though he knew it contained 
valuables. Was there ever such a spell associated with an 
epitaph before ? 

This church, a large, and for the small town Stratford then 
was, a very fine one, in the Gothic style of architecture, con- 
tained numerous decorations, inscriptions and monuments of 
distinguished men, but naturally all interest centres on the 
chancel where Shakespear lies buried. The old graveyard in 
front of and on the sides of the church, contain many inscrip- 
tions and names of individuals running back to Shakespear's 
day — companions, neighbors and friends of the poet. These 
tombstones are hid among a grove of fine old trees that sur- 
round the church. The beautiful Avon murmurs softly by, 
near the church, meandering by and around the town of Strat- 
ford. 

Wife drove out to and through the Chashote park, where 
Shakespear was accused when a boy of poaching. The tale 
has but httle foundation in fact and yet it is just possible that 
Shakespear, in the buoyancy of youth, with some other wild 
young lads, may have gone to these woods poaching, and that 
this may have had some connection with his leavmg Stratford 
and going down to try his fortune in London. It is more 
probable, however, that his genius was larger than the very 
hmited field of his native town could furnish with nutriment, 
and that he went to London to try it upon the stage, for 
which we must beHeve, he had instinctive promptings. The 
farm or manor is owned by and occupied by the descendants 
of the same person that is said to have prosecuted Shakespear — 
the Lucys. On the night Mary Anderson played here, at 
the Shakespear Theatre, deer from this park, the direct 
descendants of those that it contained in Shakespear's day, 
were brought in and placed upon the stage, and the Lucy 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON. 3 1 1 

family occupied their box at the theatre. We regretted that 
we could not visit the house sacred to the memory of the 
gentle Anna Hathaway, as it was only accessible by walking 
across a low piece of meadow land, and this was overflowed 
at the time by the late heavy rains. 

We had been several days in Stratford visiting places 
and scenes sacred to the memory of Avon's bard, when with 
memory crowded and fancy stimulated with and by these, 
quite tired I went to bed late on the last night of our stay, but 
could not sleep soundly, and half waking, found myself repeat- 
ing Shakespear's plays, and though embodying sayings, many 
of which are so thoroughly woven into the life and thought of 
English-speaking people as to constitute a part of our house- 
hold vocabulary and hfe philosophy, to my surprise I found 
none of these referring to or having any relation to Stratford or 
vicinity while the Aryshire poet, Burns, whose land I was 
just from and whom I found mixing up in my fancy with 
Shakespear, has photographed Ayr and its surroundings upon 
our minds, so much so, that " The Bonny Doon," " The Twa 
Brigs of Ayr," and the " Old Kirk of Alloway," were scarcely 
better known after than before I had seen them, while Strat- 
ford was an unknown land. Now why is this? Can it be 
that Burns was a local poet and as such immortalized his 
native land, its every brook, bridge, loch and mountain, pho- 
tographing them upon our brains by his wondrous genius, 
while Shakespear was the poet, not of England, but of the 
world, of our race, writing the philosophy of the human heart, 
not that of a special people or locality, but of man, and not 
for any period, but for all time. Stratford people are happy 
in fancying they find in Shakespear's allusions and sayings 
Stratford scenes and places, but perhaps none others see thus. 

Well, how strange a thing is sleep, which gives us a dual 
existence, leaves our bodies here and sends out our minds or 



312 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

thoughts in embodied existence to distant places, leaping over 
time and space, crowding ages into a moment and worlds into 
a span. Again I slept, bat not soundly, forgetting Stratford and 
Ayr. I now dreamed I was at home and in company with 
one of our supreme judges, A., whom I had known when we 
were young men. He was then a young lawyer of much 
sprightliness, a young Democratic politician and clever 
stump orator, but really of no startling importance as a la,wyer, 
with only a creditable knowledge of law, but a warm-hearted, 
genial, good fellow, with many personal friends. After the war, 
thanks to these qualities, he had the good fortune to be elected 
circuit judge of one of the interior counties and subsequently, 
through the activity of personal friends, secured the Demo- 
cratic nomination and was elected one of the supreme judges 
and made a very creditable member of the bench. Well, I was 
in conversation with him and remarked that I had just suc- 
ceeded in getting my old friend, Dr. , of St. Louis, elected 

circuit judge. At this. Judge A. expressed surprise and said : 

'■' Dr. ! What does he know about law ?" "O," I replied, 

"he does not know any more about law than he does of med- 
icine, but then you know that a knowledge of law is not nec- 
essary to make a judge." At this Judge A. laughed heartily, 
as indeed he would have done had it actually happened. 

WARWICK CASTLE. 

Sept. nth. — Made an excursion to Warwick Castle, which 
is perhaps the best specimen of an old English castle now ex- 
isting. It was first built by Ethelred, in 915, and is not only 
in a good state of preservation but is the lovely manor of one 
of England's proudest noblemen, the residence of the Earl of 
Warwick and his family. The castle stands on a steep rock 
which overhangs the Avon, and is said to occupy the site of an 
old Roman fortification. An old Roman bridge is still stand- 
ing, spanning the Avon at this point. This bridge was in a 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON . 3 1 3 

good State of preservation until lately, when the new and beau- 
tiful bridge was built just above it, on the completion of which 
the proprietor of the castle had the middle span in the old 
bridge removed to prevent passage over it, such passage inter- 
fering with the grounds and being now no longer necessary. 
This casde, as all like structures of the Middle Ages, is strongly 
built, the solid stone wall being no less than nine feet thick. 
It is approached through a deep defile cut in the solid rock, 
which renders it still more defensible. Upon the massive 
walls are several towers for defense. So solid was its con- 
struction, and so bravely was it defended that it withstood several 
protracted sieges. The last was by the Parliamentary forces, 
who, unable to take it, were compelled to raise the siege. It 
yet presents evidences of this siege. Numerous iron hooks, 
upon which were hung bales of wool to break the force of 
battering-rams, are still seen. We were politely shown over 
the castle, which contains many reminiscences of former times ; 
old swords, guns, armor and portraits of distinguished men, 
among these Charles I. on horseback, and Henry VIII., by 
Holbein. A large room contains cross-bows, armour, etc. 
Among the most notable of these is the breast-plate of a 
former owner, Giant Guy. This breast-plate alone weighs fifty 
pounds, while his sword shown here is eight feet long. This 
giant was of great renown in his day, and slew other giants, 
wild boars, and monsters which had previously infested this 
district, for all of which his memory was long held in great 
veneration. Now of course these recitals of these deeds are 
mythical But the shield and sword are here. Who owned 
them ? They are many hundreds of years old and must have 
been used by some one. The tower said to have 
been defended by this giant is known as Guy's Tower. From 
this lofty parapet it is said the giant threw great stones weigh- 
ing hundreds of pounds. 



314 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

OXFORD. 

Sept. jrd. — Left Stratford for Oxford, where we arrived at 
2 p. M., and put up at the Hotel Mitre. 

Oxford is a university town, and owes all its importance to 
its world-renowned university and Bodleian Library. We took 
carriage and drove over the town, and around its college 
grounds and buildings. There are twenty-six colleges, most of 
which we visited during the afternoon. Next day was spent in 
visiting and examining the Bodleian Library, perhaps the most 
important collection of books in the world, consisting of 450,- 
000 volumes and 30,000 manuscripts. But its real value is 
not in the number of its books, as this is greatly exceeded by 
the British Museum, which contains 1,500,000 volumes, and 
the National Library of Paris, which has 2,000,000 volumes, 
while several other libraries in Europe have upwards of half a 
million volumes, but these books are more select than any 
other, consisting for the most part of standard works. There 
is no department of knowledge but is contained fully in this 
library. We noticed in cases and kept under glass, many 
books of times antedating printing. Many of these were illu- 
minated, finely ornamented, all with the pen, and yet this and 
the letters of the book so finely executed that it was difficult 
to believe they were not printed. Some of these books are six 
or seven hundreds of years old. 

The university was founded by Alfred the Great, and has, with 
various vicissitudes, Hved on and through the changes of govern- 
ment, dynasties and forms of religions, through the Dark and all 
the Middle Ages, even to the present day, constituting, if not the 
most, at least one of the most, important seats of learning in 
the world, and furnishing more men great m literature and 
science than any similiar institution. Indeed, it would be 
quite impossible to over-estimate the importance of Oxford in 
the development of modern civilization and learning in Europe. 



OXFORD. 315 

We visited, with much interest, Lincoln College, the first 
stage upon which appeared the dawning earnest religious con- 
victions and labors of John Wesley. In the small room ad- 
joining the chapel is the pulpit in which he preached. To-day 
tens of thousands of pulpits throughout the world are ringing 
with the interpretations of Scripture and religious thought and 
feeling given to the world by the earnest, thoughtful, sin- 
cere, pious young graduate who occupied it then. In the 
library of this college is a Wycklif Bible, and in the hall is Wes- 
ley's bust, and near the chapel the room in which he studied. 
This college was founded in 1427. 

Visited Christ's College. In this the sons of royalty and 
those of the higher nobility are educated. Consequently it 
has quite an aristocratic air. Saw the rooms occupied by the 
Prince of Wales during his student life. They are now, I be- 
lieve, occupied by his sons. In this college hangs " Old Tom," 
the big bell of Oxford, weighing 17,000 pounds. Examined 
the Great Hall of this college, which is among the finest in 
England. The walls are hung with portraits of men of world- 
wide reputation — great poets, orators, statesmen and warriors. 
We examined them with the more interest as they are known 
almost as well in America as in England — Chaucer, Spencer, 
Milton, Dryden, Johnson, Goldsmith, Pope, Addison, Bacon, 
Newton, Shakespear, belonging to us equally with the 
English. Indeed, so identified with our literature are 
the names of the persons whose portraits adorn this 
hall, that I felt much more at home among them than I would 
be among our own celebrities in a like hall in Washington 
City. From here we visited and walked along " Addison's 
Walk," a beautiful shaded avenue of old oaks and sycamores, 
that were large trees w^hen the immortal poet and essayist 
walked and mused beneath them. How mightier than these 
things is the genius that hallows them ! After again visiting 



3 1 6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

the Bodleian Library and examining more minutely the old 
manuscripts and illuminated volumes on vellum, Ave left Ox- 
ford at 2 p. M. and ran down to London, stopping at Charing 
Cross Hotel. The country between Oxford and London is 
fertile, highly-cultivated and populous, many towns and villages 
dotting the way. In approaching London the road for many 
miles is along the Thames. After a few days we obtained 
rooms and board at 74 Guilford St., Russell Square. 

LONDON. 

London is the largest city in the world, containing within its 
metropolitan district, which embraces the city proper and its 
immediate suburbs, more than 5,000,000 inhabitants, andAvithin 
this district are 6,600 miles of improved streets. Were these 
streets placed in a straight line they would reach from London 
to San Francisco, or more than one-fourth the distance around 
the world. These streets are lighted by more than one 
million gas lamps. There are in the city 3,000 merchant 
tailors, 300,000 domestic servants, 90,000 paupers, 1,400 
churches, 2,000 charities, distributing more than $20,000,000 
annually, and more than 100,000 grown persons who are 
without religion, belong to no church, and who were almost 
never in one. There are 600,000 children on the school 
register, most of these, however, almost never saw or were in a 
school-room. 

To feed this mighty multitude requires annually 2,000,000 
quarters of wheat, 325,000,000 pounds of meat, 500,000,000 
pounds offish and 8,000,000 poultry, and 200,000,000 gallons 
of porter -are consumed to wash it down. It is estimated that 
$1,000,000,000 are expended annually. The daily supply of 
water is 150,000,000 gallons, and 8,000,000 tons of coal 
are consumed annually. There are 20,000 public cabs on the 
streets. Many of the public buildings cost from one to twenty 



LONDON. 317 

millions of dollars each. Twenty thousand vessels enter the 
port of London annually, and the exports amount to 
$500,000,000. 

From these figures it is readily seen that we have here a 
-world-centre whose throbbings are felt to the ends of the earth, 
and there is no place where her lines are not gone out, and 
the sun in his flight never catches a point where her influence 
is not seen and felt, and to the civilized world the influence of 
her commerce is scarcely less failing or less necessary than the 
tides to the ocean. 

BRITISH MUSEUM. 

This museum building occupies nearly an entire square, is 
three stories high with a row of Ionic columns running along 
its entire front. We will enter first the library, which is the 
second largest in the world, containing 1,600,000 volumes. 
But this number, enormous as it is, is easily said and written, 
but to give us some better idea of this wonderful collection of 
books, let us suppose the reading of them had commenced 
at the birth of Christ, with reading a book each day, the 
library would not be read half through in A. D. 2,000. In 
other words, it would require 4,382 years. Besides these 
books there are many thousands of manuscripts. Contained 
in cases are books illustrating the history of book-making for 
the last 1,000 or 1,200 years. Among these is a Syriac 
version of the Bible, and one of the oldest Bible manuscripts 
of the fifth century. These cases also contain a great many 
autographs of distinguished persons, foreign and EngHsh. 
Among these we notice those of Luther, Cranmer, Erasmus, 
Watson, John Knox, Sir Walter Raleigh, Penn, (founder of 
Pennsylvania), Michael Angelo, GaHleo, Sir Isaac Newton, 
Descartes, Swift, Addison, Lord Byron, Edward IV., Richard 
III., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Anna Boleyn, Jane Grey, 
Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, 



31 8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Georges I., 11. and III., Charles V. of Spain, and many 
others. 

One room contains Roman antiquities found in England. 
Three others are devoted to Greek and Roman antiquities, 
busts, statues, etc. The Elgin Room contains the Elgin 
Marbles, frieze and cornice of the Parthenon at Athens. To 
have removed them from this old ten\ple and cradle or 
nursery of the arts seems a sacrilege at which Eyron eloquent- 
ly protests. They are by the chisel of Phidias, of unequaled 
beauty, and cost $350,000. The Helenic Room contains 
marble sculptures from every part of Greece. Among them 
fragments of the Mausoleum from Halicarnassus, built by 
Artemisia as the tomb of her husband Mausoleus — hence the 
name mausoleum — in B. C. 352. Also many other marble 
statues, bas and alto reliefs, showing quite instructively 
Greek art. The Assyrian Room contains, many fragments, 
marbles and other stones, bricks, pottery, etc., containing 
cuneiform inscriptions from ancient SjTian cities, from B. C. 
2,200 to the overthrow of the kingdom. These give broken 
accounts of Merodach I., king of Babylon, B. C. 1,800, 
others of the time of Sennacherib and Sardanapalus. These 
fortunate finds of Bayard and a Frenchman, and fortunate 
discoveries of the way to decipher these long lost cuneiform 
characters have brought to light some at least curious, if not 
instructive, facts. The Assyrian books consisted in plates or 
rolls of thin clay cakes or bricks, upon which the history or 
matter was written and the clay then burned hard. These 
books were evidently in great number, forming large libraries, 
containing doubtless much of the early history of nations, of 
which we now know but little. I noticed among these a 
small tablet, being the receipt by the treasurer for moneys. 
And again, I saw on tablets 2,000 B. C., a history of the 
creation of man, and an account of Noah's flood almost just 
as Moses gives them. 



LONDON. 319 

Three great halls are filled with Egyptian antiquities, and 
contain if not the most extensive collections in Europe, at least 
one of these. Some of these statues and stones are 6,000 
years old, and yet at the time of the oldest of them it is 
proven by these impressive and disinterested witnesses that 
Egyptian civilization and art was in an high state of develop- 
ment, indeed, had attained its zenith, a point at which, like 
the Chinese civilization, it stopped, crystalized, remaining for 
thousands of years either stationary or in a slow decline. 
The causes of the sudden arrest in the progress of the people, 
who had developed their own civilization is, and most likely 
always will be, a mystery. Could it have been some disastrous 
invasion and introduction of some unfavorable new govern- 
mental influence ? Or was it the ascendency of some idea or 
influence inimical to change ? I must suspect this latter ! It 
is most likely that about the time of the building of the 
pyramids of Cheops, 4,000 B. C, which seems to have been 
the period of Egypt's highest development, the priesthood 
obtained control of the State, and lest their influence, or that 
of their gods, should suffer by change, arrested all further 
progress as innovations upon the sanctity of religion, and by 
pains and penalties dwarfed the national mind and stereotyped 
things as they then were ; and as without progress there must 
be decay, the arts and science slowly declined. In the 
unknown vast periods of time in which this self-taught people 
were developing the high state of culture at which we first meet 
them, we are carried back to a period of time in the existence 
of our race truly astonishing. Many thousands of years were 
doubtless employed in this development ; previous to the 
building of the pyramids, 6,000 years ago. But as it is im- 
possible to believe that the first of this race commenced this 
development, we must suppose that many thousands of years 
elapsed before their remote ancestors first emerged from the 
savage state. 



320 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The more we learn of this interesting people the more are 
we convinced of our loss in not knowing more. Why is it that 
we are unable to trace back their hieroglyphical history no 
farther than near the time of the pyramid-builders, at which 
time it is positively certain that a high state of civihzation of 
arts and science have existed for many ages ? This must be, 
in part, that advances in these had long been going on before 
this people, mth whom everything was original, indigenous, 
discovered the art that embalms the thought — discovered 
how to transmit to posterity, even by picture-writing, their 
thoughts, and until they had done this, of course, all beyond 
was void. 

That Egypt was the cradle of arts, of civilization, and that 
her people did invent or discover for themselves everything 
which they possessed, is now no longer a matter of doubt. 
In this strange land, by this people, at some remote period in 
the world's history, a period possibly remote beyond anything 
that has been suggested, was kindled and set up an intellectual 
light at which Greece and other nations lighted their first 
torches. Consequently their progress must have been incon- 
ceivably slow, necessarily so, while those who borrowed the 
tools they had invented, as Greece, may have sprang forward 
with great rapidity. 

After obtaining control of the State, and crushing the 
liberties of the people, which appears to have been about the 
time of the discovery of picture-writing, the Hierarchy seem to 
have suppressed all writings or books, other than those con- 
cerning religion, consequently while we have now in our pos- 
session as much as hundreds of volumes of Egyptian writings, 
they are comparatively worthless in throwing light upon the 
great questions that deeply interest us, as they are all in some 
manner connected or relating to their religious forms and 
ceremonies — their Liturgy, the Book of the Dead. And we are 



LONDON. 321 

the more readily inclined to this opinion from the well-known 
ecclesiastical tendency in this direction, two most notable 
examples of which are but too well known from the disaster 
they entailed. When in this same land of Egypt the Moham- 
medans obtained possession, the Caliph on being asked what 
should be done with the Alexandrian Library, replied, that if 
the books concerned the Koran they should be burned, as the 
Koran was all-sufhcient and needed no exposition or proofs, 
and if they were not in accordance with the Koran they must 
be burned as heretical. The books were accordingly burned 
as being worthless or injurious. Again during the history of 
our religion an index expurgatorus was established, almost 
equally destructive, as it prevented the publication of all books 
not deemed religious, or in accordance with the then interpre- 
tations of the dominant religious beliefs. This was almost as 
fatal as the Mohammedan or the ancient Egyptian edict, as it 
not only prevented progress, but led to the destruction of much 
that had been known and written. With these facts we have 
no difficulty in supposing that the further advance in Egypt, 
and the absence of much of its history of important events, is 
the result of Hierarchical influence, an influence which was 
most likely the cause of the downfall of themselves, their re- 
ligion, and the destruction of their temples and their gods. 

This strange people, unlike all others, as though conscious 
that their thoughts, ideas, improvements, should serve as a 
basis only for the improvement of others, built their structures, 
pyramids, arches, sphinxes, all, to last forever. The Greeks, 
the instructors of Europe, built for ornament, beauty of form 
being the cardinal idea ; the Romans, like ourselves, constructed 
for usefulness, combining beauty of form only as an adjunct. 
And thus having in all things, as the leading idea, duration, 
and farther influenced by their religious opinions, they labored 
to render their bodies also immortal. And in this they cer- 



32 2 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

tainly succeeded, and these if undisturbed in their rock-bound 
catacombs might have lasted as long as have and will their 
pyramids, or forever. 

An immense hall in this building is devoted to mummies 
sarcophagi, coffins, etc. Some of these mummies are yet in 
their coffins, others are in their bandages or winding sheets, 
in still other cases the bandages have been removed so far as 
to expose the face, the feet and hands. There are hundreds of 
these mummies, besides the mummies of their sacred animals, 
as cats, monkeys, crocodiles, etc. There are mummies of old 
men and women, young persons and infants, mcluding the 
great and the poor as shown, as would such distinction be 
shown at the present day, by the fine bandages, coffins and 
sarcophagi in the one case and the rude accompaniments in 
the other. Most of these mummies are in quite a good state 
of preservation, though desiccated and blackened. But so 
well are their features preserved, that in some instances, they 
might doubtless be recognized by their friends and relations, 
were such living, but these also have been dead and forgotten 
for three and four thousand years. Nation, tongue and people, 
all have passed away, and the language and writing forgotten 
for thousands of years, and not until the accidental discovery 
of the Rosetta Stone could these be deciphered. This impor- 
tant find, the Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French during 
their mihtary operations in Egypt in 1802, and through the 
genius of Champollion was made to give up the secret of ages. 
It was shipped to Paris, but on its way was captured by the 
English, and is now here set up in the passway of this hall. It 
is a tablet of black porphyry, dressed only on its upper face, is 
about forty inches long by thirty wide, with inscription in three 
languages, first. Hieroglyphic, second. Demotic and third, Greek. 
Hence called the trilingqual stone. 

This embalming and preservation of the body by these 



LONDON. 323 

ancient Egyptians, about Which so much wonder has been ex- 
pressed was not diffcult of discovery or practice, and bodies 
could alike be rendered incorruptible at the present day were 
we foolish enough to desire it, or did our religion, as theirs, re- 
quire it, and was after this manner : 

The brain was first removed through the nostrils, and the 
calvarium filled with hot bitumen and aromatics. The other 
viscera were then removed and cavities filled in like manner. 
The body was then perfectly encased in linen bandages satu- 
rated with aromatic bitumen ; over this was poured bitumen and 
another encasement of bandages, and sometimes as many as 
four or five folds of bitumenous bandages surrounded the body 
and Hmbs. By this it was entirely protected from air and 
moisture. The body thus protected was now placed in a 
wooden coffin containing in hieroglyphics, on the inside of the 
coffin, the social condition of the deceased, with lengthy quo- 
tations from the Book of the Dead, giving ample instructions 
how to conduct themselves at the tribunal before which they 
were to be judged according to deeds done in this world. 
This cofiin after being sealed air tight, was placed within a 
massive, granite sarcophagus, which was cemented with some 
indestructible cement, made thrice air tight, or thus thrice 
protected from air and moisture, the sarcophagi were securely 
placed, in most cases, in niches cut in the walls of the ever- 
lasting hills and these niches again closed. The result has 
been as we see here, these bodies have been perfectly preserved, 
and now after four or five thousand years retain many of their 
peculiarities of feature. 

In a jar were some hands and feet that had been cut off to 
show their perfect preservation and looked much like those 
seen in a dissecting room, except these were more dried and 
blackened. 

But how vain all this efi'ort to render immortal that which it 



324 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



is better it were mortal ! Who would have their body pre- 
served as a mockery and a show, when all that rendered it 
lovely, the quickening mind, has ceased to bear it company, to 
protect it, to render it loved or hated, and when all who 
knew and loved us have with their entire nation, tongue and 
kindred long since passed away, have ceased to love or hate. 

Could this curious people, who, with this wondrous care 
and ingenuity, labored to render their bodies immortal, have 
known that thousands of years afterwards these bodies would 
have been thus removed thousands of miles from their native 
land to be curious shows and jests of a nation and people 
who then had no existence, they would, methinks, scarcely 
have thought success in this direction desirable. 

Great numbers of statues of men and gods, monstrous winged 
bulls, great winged lions with men's heads, sphinxes, great 
stone beetles and multitudes of other Egyptian curiosities are 
placed in this room. Some of these statues are of the Fifth 
Dynasty, and consequently six thousand years old. We saw 
three wooden statues more than five thousand years old. 

I saw here on the walls illuminated papyrus and frescoes, 
from the long forgotten ruined palaces and temples of Karnak, 
upper Egypt, with their three colors, red, black and yellow, so 
bright, and the design so well executed, that it was difficult to 
beUeve they had been done five thousand years ago, instead 
of last year, and were by a people whose civilization had 
passed away for thousands of years, leaving behind them these 
footprints in the sands of time, instead of the works of some 
strange people still existing. 

But leaving this great hall with its works that seem to em- 
body ugliness, repugnance, in their idea of eternal duration, 
and to these qualities we may also add uselessness, as we can- 
not suppose the time will ever again come when these will 
serve as models, we enter other rooms containing great 



LONDON. 



325 



quantities of beautiful and really useful antiquities — useful, if 
for no other reason, than that a " thing of beauty is a joy for- 
ever." 

Rooms of Etruscan Vases. — These vases are in some 
instances as old as many of the Egyptian curiosities, perhaps 
three and four thousand years, and may be even older than 
this, as in their workmanship they dawn the awakening Greek 
mind, or the mind of the unknown ancestors of this wonder- 
fully artistic people. And running through their developmental 
culture to its highest attainments in the age of Pericles, 450 to 
300 B. C, brings us down through its decadence and absorp- 
tion in the all-conquering Roman Empire. 

These vases, of which there is a great collection, are 
arranged in and, should be studied in, their historic order. Be- 
ginning with the crude or archaic, we find a gradual improve- 
ment in the design and execution. At first the crude figures 
of men and animals are in black on a red ground, then more 
perfect and beautiful artistic figures, until the most perfect art 
period, when we have men and women with mythological 
characters, games, battles, seiges, etc., m red on a black 
ground — a complete transformation or transposition having 
taken place with the advance of the art, until the black figure 
on a red ground in the archaic age has changed to a red figure 
on a black ground in the most perfect. And these are indeed 
beautiful, perhaps beyond successful imitation, and would 
to-day adorn the saloons of any palace, where in fact we have 
often seen them. 

Other rooms contain medals, coins, ornaments, jewels, glass 
and majolica wares. Other rooms contain great quantities of 
Anglo-Saxon antiquities, while still others contain mediaeval 
articles, arms, armor, cross-bows, guns, swords, spears, pistols, 
ivory carvings. But it would be as tiresome as difficult to 
give even an outline of things here. We shall leave this world- 



326 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

collection here, near Russell Square, and run down to South 
Kensmgton. 

The South Kensington Museum is only a continuation of the 
British Museum. We shall only notice here the Natural 
History Museum. The building for this single department 
is a beautiful romanesque structure, three stories high, and 
675 feet long, with wings 200 and 300 feet long. The main 
hall is 700 feet long, 170 feet wide and 7 2 feet high. This hall 
opens out on either side into the great central room, which is 
the main entrance to the building. 

To the right, the entrance hall, 300 feet long, is occupied 
through its central space with skeletons of great animals, 
many of these now extinct. First is the entire skeleton of 
a whale, sixty feet long. Next is the entire skeleton of a 
mastodon found in Benton county, Mo., U. S. A., and a 
skeleton of the extinct Irish stag. This last is a noble animal, 
and, of course, extinct, as there would be no possibility of its 
existing in Ireland now, or indeed for the last thousand years, 
except in reserves. Then the head and tusk of an enormous 
mastodon found here in the valley of the Thames. The tusks 
of this enormous animal, that once inhabited England, are 
eight inches in diameter and ten feet long. Next the 
head of an enormous hippopotamus that also once lived 
in the valley of the Thames. Also the skeleton complete 
of the one and two horned rhinoceros of England, and the skel- 
eton in plaster cast of an extinct enormous armadillo found 
in South America. For comparison, the complete skeleton of 
the present armadillo is placed by the side of this. On either 
side of this great hall are cases containing parts of skeletons of 
different animals. The first case on the right contains 
skulls and other bones, with flint and bone instruments, of the 
men who lived in caves in England and France, cotem- 
poraneous with the great cave bear, mastodon, hippopotamus. 



LONDON. 327 

Several fragmentary skeletons of these men are seen in these 
cases. These human remains show a small brain cavity, and 
a man of rather under size, showing that wherever giants 
may have lived, our forefathers of the caves were not of them, 
but rather under size and of low intellect. Their crude and 
very imperfect instruments of flint and bone must have made 
their struggles for existence against the cave bear, sabre- 
toothed tiger, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and other animals 
with which they had to contend, a very precarious, and in 
many individual instances an unsuccessful one. Indeed, it 
is positively certain that a successful struggle against such 
animals, with such arms, would have been an impossibility 
without that force, of which even the rudest men can avail 
themselves, the strength of aggregation, or acting in multitude, 
and the use of fire. The almighty importance of these two 
forces, the latter only available to man, gives him power and 
dominion over all the beasts of field and forest. 

In a case here is the fossilized human skeleton found in 
South America. This is, I believe, with one exception, the 
only instance or specimen of fossilized man yet found. But it 
gives no evidence as to man's great antiquity, as it is in a 
recent limestone formation, a formation even now going on at 
the same and other places. It may be many thousand years 
old, or only a few hundred. In all probability it is long subse- 
quent to the bones found in these caves and shown in 
adjoining cases. It is the skeleton of a man of medium size, 
with body, pelvis, ribs and lower limbs almost entire ; with the 
bones held in position by the hmestone rock with which they 
are firmly encrusted, and looking much as w^e find trilobites in 
the hmestone rock of the quarries. 

Now, while these interesting and instructive remains of 
human bones and instruments and implements prove positive- 
ly, what can no longer be disputed, that man and these now 



328 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

long since extinct animals were cotemporaneous, and establish 
beyond rational doubt the great antiquity of man, unfor- 
tunately, we have no possible means of determining what this 
antiquity really is, whether it extends back for hundreds of 
thousands of years, or only tens of thousands of years. Cer- 
tain it is, it was at a time when the climate and topography of 
England and France, were quite different from what they now 
are. But when that was, and what these changes have been, 
and how produced, are mysteries unsolved, and may remain 
forever undetermined. 

But these seemingly silent records of bygone epochs are not 
without instructive cosmical lessons. First, they teach us, 
contrary to popular belief, which peoples the earth with giants, 
that our very remote cave ancestors were not even so large or 
strong as their posterity. And a curious, but instructive fact 
here comes to our knowledge, that, while many, perhaps 
most, other animals have degenerated, man has actually im- 
proved, ever improved, physically and mentally. In the fossil 
remains, or preserved skeletons of other animals now extinct, 
as the elephant, tiger, bear, kangaroo, stag, etc., the present spe- 
cies are dwarfed, all having been represented by ancestors of 
greatly larger size, in some instances of twice or three times 
the size. 

These huge mammalian animals, nearest to man, have dis- 
appeared, doubtless, when, and as, the changing or changed 
conditions of their environments became un suited to then- 
existence, leaving behind them a dwarfed posterity better 
adapted to the changed condition ; while man has suffered no 
such change, because he could do what no other animal had 
the power to do — could adapt himself, through the instrumen- 
tality of fire and artificial clothing, to the changed conditions, be- 
ing perhaps quite as large and strong as, and living longer than, 
his remote cave ancestors, while his intellectual development 



LONDON. 329 

has rendered him even more superior, in point of fact, to his 
cave ancestors, than these were to the cave bears with which 
they contended for the possession of domicile. What would 
these cave men, with their flint and bone instruments, do in a 
like struggle with their posterity, with cannon and breech- 
loaders ? 

The belief of all nations in man's origin from a race of demi- 
gods, giants and heroes, of greatly superior strength and moral 
and intellectual prowess or attainments, finds here, as indeed 
we know otherwise, positive disproof. The ancestors of all 
men were ignorant savages, with no superior physical or mental 
endowments. 

The great hall to the left, also 300 feet in length, is filled 
with beautifully prepared stuffed birds and animals. A col- 
lection that for variety and extent is unrivaled by any like col- 
lection in the world, containing a full assortment of all and 
every rare animal and bird. 

Great numbers of birds, almost as natural as life, are so 
arranged as to give to the observer an idea of the animals' 
entire life, habits and habitats. Here are multitudes of swim- 
ming birds and waders, auks, pelicans, black and white swan, 
ducks, cranes, and the curious ornithorhynchus from Australia, 
a bird with the body of an otter and the bill of a duck. Also 
birds of prey, eagles, hawks, vultures, with climbing birds, 
pheasants, etc. Of animals, bears, wolves, tigers, lions, seals 
deer, antelopes and others. 

Returning to the central room, we mount a broad flight of 
steps at the top of which is a fine marble-seated statue of the 
greatest of philosophical naturalists, Darwin, who sits in medi- 
tation grand, majestic, as the presiding genius of animated 
nature. The long galleries are filled with beautiful specimens 
of birds with their nests, eggs or young with artistically arranged 
grasses, brooks, rocky crevices, illustrating their habits and 



330 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

habitats. These are all under glasses. All is so naturally 
arranged that these birds appear as if in their homes. 

The great halls are filled with anatomical preparations. 
A splendid anthropological collection, consisting of typical 
male and female human skeletons, then crania of all the races, 
families and casts of men now inhabiting the globe. Europe, 
Asia, Africa, North and South x'Vmerica, and Oceanica, are 
here represented by numerous crania. The study of these 
skulls points out the progressive and non-progressive peoples 
quite as clearly as the world's history could do. 

Near by, adjoining, is a room containing an immense collec- 
tion, illustrating the anthropoid or monkey families. There 
are a number of perfect typical skeletons of various species of 
Simia, then a very great number of crania. These crania 
have been collected from all parts of the world inhabited by 
monkeys, male and female crania of almost every variety of 
the monkey family, running down to the Lemurs. 

First there are skeletons male and female of the most 
anthropoid monkey, gorillas, chimpanzees and ourang-outangs. 
Some of these are nearly as man-hke as some of the crania 
of the lower orders of humanity. Indeed in two or three 
young chimpanzees, particularly the cranium of a female chim- 
panzee remarkable during life for its intelligence and good 
qualities, this resemblance was so strong as to render it difii- 
cult to say that it was not the head of a low order of the 
human species. But this very close resemblance to the human 
cranium was only seen in the younger animals ; in the older 
ones the shape departs farther from the human skull. This is 
dependent upon two causes, race or generic laws and the 
necessity for the development through use dependent upon 
their food for strong masticatory muscles which constantly 
cause a more prognathous head. 

The third story contains minerals and geological collections, 



LONDON. 331 

precious stones, rare crystals, etc., with a great number and 
variety of aerolites, one of these weighing two or three tons. 
These are so arranged, often with explanatory notes, as to throw 
as much light upon their cosmic history, origin, formation and 
appearance upon our planet as possible. But I must say, after 
examining these specimens, studying them with their explana- 
tory notes attached, I felt that I knew less about the subject 
than before, as all this had unsetded my previous, pretty-well- 
defined views, without confirming me in others. There was, 
however, one thuig I did learn positively by this study, and 
this was that nothing certain was known on this interesting 
subject, and this I really regretted to learn, as I had thought 
there was much which we might accept as established. 

COLONIAL EXHIBITION, 1885. 

Adjoining the South Kensington Museum are the Colonial 
Exhibition buildings, covering many acres. And as this 
Exhibition was at this time, we visited its rooms. Nothing 
perhaps ever transpired that showed to better effect the wealth 
and glory and m.ajesty and might and dominion of the 
British Empire, the equal of which in area or wealth or power 
does not and never did exist on the earth, not excepting the 
Roman Empire in the days of the Antonines. Asia, Europe, 
Africa, America and Oceanica vied with each other in exhib- 
iting the wealth of their products and the endless variety of 
their curiosities. 

Costly shawls and silks and cotton textures, with curious 
works, wares and goods from India, with native workmen with 
their looms and in their shops plying their cunning handicraft, 
much of it, as well as the workmen themselves, is unlike anything 
to which European eyes are accustomed. From Canada and 
contiguous provinces, agricultural, horticultural, forest and 
fishery products. Indians with their furs, paints, bark canoes 
and war, fishing and hunting implements. Africa with her 



332 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

diamond fields and rivers of gold dust, with her forests swarm- 
ing with elephants, lions, hyenas, boaconstrictors, chased by 
or chasing her native Hottentots, Zulus and Caffirs, in the chase, 
in the field, in the huts, giving the life habits of the land. 
Australia, with her mountains of bricks of gold, (made in 
imitation) with figures, giving the hundreds of millions of gold, 
with her forests and wretched inhabitants in their lonely stick 
or bark shelters; great kangaroos, with wombats and other 
strange birds and animals, lurking in the forests or haunting 
brooks and rocks, together with the costly or valuable or 
monstrous woods of her forests, or products of fields, pastures, 
looms and work-shops. Many long halls and great rooms 
covering acres of ground, are filled with these products, 
costing millions of pounds Stirling, gathered from the ends of 
the earth, and from a belt that encircled the globe, were here. 
Here we have an India jungle, composed of trees curiously 
matted and twined together, with an undergrowth of bamboos, 
canes and grasses, where the sun's rays never penetrate, and 
in the midst of these are great elephants, breaking, crushing 
their way by means of their great weight and strength. Near 
by are fierce Bengal tigers, couchant, ready to spring on some 
unfortunate traveler, or devouring their quivering prey. Over- 
head, entwined or hanging from the limbs, are great serpents, 
while monkeys chatter or gambol among the higher branches. 
We step from this across the hall to find ourselves in the 
midst of a Hottentot village with its naked fetich worshippers. 
Again, further on, we find ourselves in the midst of an Austra- 
lian forest, with its lonely bark shelter, with an uncouth, half- 
naked man and woman making their solitary meal off a few 
acorns, ground nuts or roasted kangaroo. Within the near 
distance a brook or spring, about which strange, uncouth, 
slimy serpents, or still stranger, half-bird, half-beast creatures, 
crawl or leap. How strange much of this I We wonder if 



LONLON. 333 

such scenes are really on this earth, or Avhether we have not 
been transported to some other planet, or if we are not in a 
troubled dream where distorted fancies conjure .up things not 
in earth or heaven. Bewildered with sight-seeing, we hail a 
cab and return to our hotel, when for a whole week we are 
nightly devoured in our dreams by Bengal tigers, snapped at 
by brisding hyenas, trodden under foot by elephants, or strug- 
gling to free'ourselves from the folds of pythons, more hideous 
than the one that destroyed Laocoon and his sons. Or worse 
still, we are starving with some wretched native in his lonely, 
comfortless, cheerless bark shelter, which, as if in mockery, he 
claims as his home. 

SMITHFIELD AND ITS MARTYRS. 

Oct. jrd. — Visited the historic grounds, Smithfield, formerly 
the tournament grounds, and site where witches and martyrs 
were burned. In the days of chivalry, many a mailed knight 
broke here a lance in mock defence of his king and lady love. 
And where, among other royal persons. King Edward III. and 
Richard II. in plates of mail, with viziers down and poised 
lances, in headlong tilt showed to admiring lords and ladies how 
battles were lost and won. And here the bold, daring Watt 
Tyler was killed by the Lord Mayor in 1381. 

But these deeds of glory, chivalry, important as they may 
have been at the time, have passed forever away with the 
improved means of warfare, and may well be forgotten, while 
the deeds of cruelty and horror Smithfield has witnessed, may 
well live as warnings to erring humanity. It was here the 
victims of that strange, fanatical movement, born of ignorance 
and superstition, witches, were burned. And here another 
crime, perhaps more offensive to God and men — religious 
martyrs were burned. Here was day darkened and night 
rendered lurid by the sickly, ghastly sight of men and women 
consumed in the flames for conscience's sake. Here the 



334 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Church, the dominant belief of the times, both Catholic and 
Protestant in turn, endeavored to stamp out the inaHenable 
birthright of man, freedom of thought, by burning those who 
chose to offend man rather than God, who dared to die rather 
than offend against conscience. 

Here Wm. Longbeard, the first reformer, was beheaded in 
1 1 96, and in 1305, Sir Wm. Wallace, after being drawn 
through the streets by horses, was hung, and while still alive 
drawn and quartered. After this the Church becoming more 
refined in cruelty, preferred stamping out freedom of thought, 
the sanctity of conscience by the purifying process of fire, but 
these fires while consuming the body, only gave new growth, 
increased strength to freedom of thought. Here Henry VHI., 
in 1539, had Forest burned for denying the king's supremacy 
in religion. Here was also burned Joan Butcher, Maid of 
Kent, for having some doubts concerning the Church dogma 
of the incarnation. Annie, the beautiful and innocent daugh- 
ter of Sir Wm. Askev\^, was first tortured on the rack, broken 
on the wheel and then burned for doubting transubstantiation. 
During the reign of Bloody Mary, stimulated by the dark, 
cruel, bigoted Philip of Spain, whom she had unfortunately 
married, these fires of religious persecution were kept burning 
with remorseless, pitiless fury. During her short and bloody 
reign, 170 martyrs were burned here. With the death of this 
hysterical, dropsical, bigoted queen, the fires of Smithfield were 
extinguished forever. These grounds are now in the business 
center of London, and covered by the costly buildings of the 
fish and meat markets, where are seen seventy-five acres of 
butcher's meat. 

BUNHILL FIELDS CEMETERY. 

This Campo Santo of the Dissenters, is the former burial 
grounds of those who for, differing in their religious belief from 
the Established Church, were denied burial in consecrated or 



LONDOK. 335 

holy ground, and were buried here with outsiders. In this, 
however, bigotry and intolerance, as is often the case, defeated 
their own ends, as the name and deeds of those who slumber 
here and in the grounds adjacent have made this holy ground 
that will be visited by children's children, while their virtues 
will be retold and their lives and deeds shall improve, instruct 
and ennoble mankind to the last period of recorded time. As 
this ground is now within the city, it is closed to further burials. 
At the time of its closure to interments, 140,000 had been 
buried here. Among these are the tombs of Dr. Watts, the 
sacred poet, whose hymns are sung in tens of thousands of 
churches by millions of worshippers. The tomb of Daniel 
De Foe, author of Robinson Crusoe, a book, although much 
less extravagantly praised and much less pretentious than 
Paradise's Lost, has, I have no doubt, been read by a thou- 
sand times more persons, and certainly with a thousand times 
more interest, and perhaps with equal profit. Not far from 
this tomb is that of John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, 
a book that with its exalted purity of the English language, 
the loftiness of its sustained allegory under the circumstances 
in which it was produced, has a thousand times more of the 
miraculous than all the miraculous acts of saints, monkish 
legends, ever recorded and certainly more to excite our wonder 
and admiration, and may in many respects fairly be placed 
with Robinson Crusoe, both works of imagination, the one 
fiction placed on facts, the other facts placed upon fiction, 
both exciting our intensest emotion, and both will be read as 
long as the English language exists. The tomb of the earnest, 
devout allegorist was erected by his congregation, and though 
of marble, his name and work will outlast it. The other, 
De Foe's tomb, a granite shaft, was erected, as stated on the 
pedestal, by the printer and newspaper boys and girls of 
Europe and America. A most fitting source and tribute, as 



S $6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

perhaps more boys and girls have voluntarily and with delight 
read this than any other book ever published. There are 
here also the tombs of many others — names not born to die. 

Across the street is the church built and occupied by John 
Wesley. AVe attended service here, and since the morning 
curtains were first hung out a more lovely Sabbath morning 
never dawned upon the world. All nature seemed to be in 
harmony with the gentleness, the loveliness of the spirits of 
those who formerly resided' and Avhose dust still reposes, here. 
The church is much as he left it, the pulpit the same. The 
chapel adjoining contains his writing-desk and chair. The 
adjoining parsonage contains many souvenirs of the Wesley 
family. 

In a little yard behind the church are the tombs of John 
and his brother Charles Wesley, also the tombs of Richard 
Watson, author of Watson's Theological Dictionary and Wat- 
son's Institutes, and of Drs. Adam Clark and Benson, the 
Bible commentators. In the front yard, near the gate, is the 
tomb of Susannah Wesley, mother of John and Charles, a 
noble woman whose many excellent qualities of head and 
heart were scarceless less marked than those of her immortal 
sons. 

George Whitefield preached here in Bunhill Fields and at 
Moorsfield. often in the open air, and it is said to congrega- 
tions of twenty and thirty thousand, and with such power and 
effect that the most stolid and hardened men wept as children. 

This place was called by the bigots of the age, •' the fanati- 
cal burying place." But many of those buried here will live 
in song and story when those who in their pride so considered 
them shall have been forgotten. For though fanaticism will 
not outlive bigotry, granting these men and women were such, 
born of the same spirit both will have a like duration, are 
indeed often readilv convertible states, with this difference, 



LONDON. 337 

however, that while fanaticism misdirected may and often has 
and will yet do great wrong, it has done and will yet do much 
good, while the soul of bigotry is of evil and that continually. 

THE TABERNACLE SPURGEON, 

Sept. ij, i88S' — x\ttended service at the Tabernacle, built 
in the classic style and accommodating 7,000 persons. The 
erection of this building was found to be necessary in order 
to accommodate the vast crowds that this modern Whitefield 
had attracted to listen to his discourses, a crowd that had long 
greatly exceeded the capacity of any church at the disposal of 
his followers. 

Of the great pulpit orators who, for the last quarter of a 
century, have attracted most attention there are four, Spur- 
geon and Parker, of London, and Henry Ward Beecher and 
Talmage, of New York. Of these four, while most unlike in 
most things, there are no two more alike in some most vital 
points than Spurgeon and Beecher. Both are men of sound, 
logical minds, profound thinkers, and both have outgrown the 
narrow limits prescribed by their respective churches. Beech- 
er's advance has alarmed religionists from its too liberal inter- 
pretation of Scripture and adaption of the most advanced 
philosophical thought, while Spurgeon's advanced, enlarged, 
more liberal views only alarmed the more orthodox or Calvin- 
istic portion of the Baptist Church. This great Free Com- 
munion Baptist preacher, unable or unwilling to believe that 
only those who had been baptized by immersion were truly dis- 
ciples of Christ, threw open the doors of the Church to all who 
professed Christ, inviting all such to meet him and his at the 
communion table. 

We were fortunate enough, notwithstanding the vast crowd, 
to obtain favorable seats near to, and in front of, the elevated 
platform and pulpit. The preacher. Dr. Spurgeon, after a 
short but most sensible and impressive prayer, gave out a 



33S SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

hymn which Avas sung by the choir on the platform in front of 
and around the pulpit, the audience joining in the singing. 
The preacher gave out the hymn, reading an entire verse of 
four lines at a time. 

There was an impressive beauty in his voice and manner 
that added much to the excellence of the poetry or even the 
sentiment of the hymn. After the singing, the preacher read 
a chapter in the Old Testament, Isaiah 50, which he thought 
contained much of the essence and promise of the New, for- 
telling the coming and the death of Christ. He read with a 
distinctness and elegance of diction I perhaps never heard 
equaled, and which certainly added greatly to the solemn 
grandeur and beauty of the chapter. He read only a few 
lines or words at a time, then commented upon them with 
great ability, eloquence and learning. His reasoning was 
remarkably clear, logical, and, granting the chapter really 
referred to, and meant, what he supposed it did, entirely con- 
vincing. He occupied some thirty minutes in reading and 
commenting upon this chapter, and none could have wished 
the time less. After this came another hymn and then the sermon. 
He took for his text, the 14th verse of the 6th chapter of Paul 
to the Gallatians, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." With an ability, finished 
elocudon and clear, logical reasoning I have never known 
equaled, he expounded his text for some fifty minutes. Be- 
sides his easy, finished eloquence and clear, logical reasoning, 
that which impresses one the most, is his child-like sin- 
cerity and manly earnestness and unquestionable, undivided 
faith, with an unpretentious but earnest desire to convince that 
entirely hid the man in the subject. The preacher was 
nowhere, nothing, Christ was all in all, and man's salvation 
that which of all things most concerned earth and heaven. 
No one could listen to him without beino- fullv satisfied of his 



LONDON. 



339 



earnestness, of his truthfulness in what he professed, that he 
really believed what he preached and preached only what he 
believed, and that with him religion was an actual fact, admit- 
ting the clearest solution and most positive demonstration. 
This of itself gives a power to his sermons, which, enforced 
with remarkable logical eloquence, devoid of all verbosity or 
unmeaning, rhetorical flights, is well calculated to carry con- 
viction, while his enthusiasm is in beautiful harmony with the 
importance of his subject, never outrunning or lagging behind 
the interest or feelings of his audience, who throughout the 
discourse were not permitted by the introduction of extraneous 
matter to wander from the text. 

What did it concern him or his audience that Comte had 
taught a new gospel of positivism, or that Herbert Spencer 
worshipped the Unknowable, or Darwin taught the descent of 
man from monkeys ? To him the only positivism was man's 
need of salvation and the fullness of atonement in the blood of 
Christ, while the Unknowable of Spencer was the unknown 
God whom Paul found the Athenians ignorantly worshipping, 
and whom like Paul, he was declaring unto the people to be 
the Christ; and let Darwin teach what he might as to the origin 
of man, he taught with the Bible that man had fallen through 
sin and might again live through the atonement of Christ, and 
with him Christ was all, everything, embracing all philosophies 
that were true and all truths that were philosophical. 

If all this was not positively stated in the discourse, it was 
included and only not stated because included and the beauty 
and harmony of the discourse would have been marred and its 
usefulness lessened by attempts to show that the whole 
includes all the parts. 

It is impossible that such a man can be listened to with 
indifference, even were his subject of much less importance 
than he deemed it. We could no longer wonder that he 



340 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

required a house coveriug acres to preach in, or that his 
swelHng thoughts and soul had broken o^•er the narrow limits 
placed by Close Communionists. 

In appearance, Dr. Spurgeon is a typical Englishman, about 
five feet ten and one-half inches in height, with a fine head, 
thick, short neck, broad, square shoulders and full chest — 
altogether a fine physique, a heavy-set, square-built, burly son 
of old John Bull. We readily see in the man one possessed of 
an iron will and dominated by convictions of right and wrong. 

After this it may seem out of place to offer criticisms, and 
yet I could but feel that his discourse presented objectionable 
points. We thought the speaker fell into some errors from 
his mind running' too much in a groove or rut. Throusrhout 
his discourse he gave too much stress to the word rross. which 
to his mind of course never presented itself as a st^'aight line 
with a cross-bar or transept, nor as a sign, but a tact embody- 
ing the meritorious life, suffering and death of Christ — the 
atonement, and not in any sense as a sign or object of adora- 
tion, and yet his discourse might readily give other impressions. 
Indeed, so far as the emphasis or stress upon the word cross 
was concerned, it might have been used at high mass. Now in 
this we must believe he even misinterpreted his author, Paul, 
who almost certainly did not even use the word cross in this 
connection or in this passage. The word cross most probably 
having been added as a gloss or as a forgery. Certain it is 
that the early Christians attached no symbolical meaning to 
this word, looking upon the cross only with horror and not 
until after the abolition by edict of punishment or death upon 
the cross within the Roman Empire, which was not until the 
fourth century, did the cross become an object of especial 
favor or an object of adoration — and it was not until the 
sixth century that the emblem of the cross became the image 
of the cross. This is certainlv shown in the earlv tombs of 



LONDON. 341 

the Christians, the catacombs, where the cross never appears 
upon, or in connection with, their burial places during the first, 
second or third centuries, whereas had it been considered of 
the importance it afterwards attained and that the preacher 
here gave it, it would have ornamented, or been present at, 
every tomb. 

We must say, also, that notwithstanding the certainty he felt 
in the prophet's allusions to Christ, we find no possible reason 
for believing that there is any reference whatever to Christ in 
this solemn, poetical chapter. See Isaiah 50. But even this 
did not in the least detract from the impressive, instructive 
beauty of the discourse. 

WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 

Sept. 14, Z(yc?5.— Visited Westminster Abbey, a noble 
structure, hallowed as being either the burial-place, or contain- 
ing the monuments, of many of England's most illustrious dead. 
It stands upon the site of an old church, erected by the Saxon 
king Sebert, in 616. This was destroyed by the Danes and 
rebuilt by king Edgar, in 985. The Abbey was endowed by 
Edward the Confessor, in 1049. The Abbey was built in its 
present form, by Henry III. and his son Edmund I. in 1250, 
consequently it is upwards of 600 years old. It is a very 
Temple of Fame, and so regarded by all true Englishmen. To 
be buried within its sacred walls, sacred from memories and by 
association, or to have a monument here is deemed the great- 
est mark of respect that can be paid the dead. The church 
is in the form of a Latin cross with some indifferent mosaics 
and the windows are beautified with stained glass. 

While this world-renowned Abbey is justly esteemed as the 
most distinguished Temple of Fame in the world, containing 
the tombs of more truly great men than any other like structure 
in the world, it also contains many unworthy of such distinction, 
which should not be here, indeed mar the purpose for which 



342 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

it should be held sacred, such as the tombs or monuments of 
utterly worthless lords or rich men, whose titles or wealth alone 
have secured them notice here and, still worse even than these 
worthless characters, a number of children's monuments are 
here and some of these the children of rich men only, or of 
those who possessed or could obtain, by means of their titles 
or money, favor at court. This is to be deplored, and greatly 
mars the effect otherwise produced. Even the children of 
kings who have no historic value should not be here any more 
than the children of beggars. Every unhistoric tomb, whether 
child or adult, found here impresses the visitor unfavorably as 
a kind of desecration. The children Edward V. and his 
brother, the duke of York, the unfortunate children of Edward 
IV. foully murdered by their godless uncle, Richard III. are, 
though but children, very properly buried here, for though but 
children, they have a deep historic interest. We saw in the ' 
tower the place where the bones of these children, who were 
strangled and buried under the staircase, were found. Shake- 
spear has made their sad, wicked, taking-off immortal, and all 
the world will be pleased to meet with some fitting tribute to 
their memory in this place. 

To give some idea of the vast interest that centers in this 
Temple of Fame we will mention a few of the tombs and 
monuments we noticed here : 

IVilliam Pitt, Lord CJiatha7n, Beacojisfield, Palmerstoji, 
Mansfield, lVarre7t Hastings^ Richard Cobden^ Wilherforce^ 
Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darivin, Charles James Fox^ 
James Mackintosh, Lord Holland, Zacharay Macau lay, 
Words7vorth, Co?igreve, Bucklaiid, Major Andre (shot as a 
spy by Washington), Earl Stanhope, Dr. Isaac Watts, John 
Wesley, Dr. Bell, Bishop Thornwell, Grote, Camde?i, Gar- 
rick, Addison, Babington Macaulay, Thackeray, Handel, 
Cajnpbell, Goldsmith, Gay, Thompson, Burns, Shakespear, 



LONDON. 343 

Southey, Mason, Gray, Alilton, Spencer, Butler, Ben Jon- 
son, Chaucer, Cowley, Longfellow, Dryden, Old Parr (152 
years old), Lord John Russell, Edward Buhver Lytton, Sir 
George Villiers, etc. 

A flight of twelve marble steps conducts us into the elegant 
chapel of Henry VII. A great number of beautiful statues and 
figures adorn this chapel. The pomp of stone decoration of 
the ceiling is truly astonishing. It is difficult to believe it is 
stone and not of wood, so airy and elaborate is it. Here is a 
monument to the unfortunate, beautiful Mary Queen of Scots, 
beheaded by order of her counsin. Queen Elizabeth. A vault 
contains the remains of Charles II. William III. Queens Mary 
and Annie. A metal monument to Henry YII. and his wife 
P^lizabeth, of York. Monument to Edward VI. Near by 
is buried Elizabeth Claypole, daughter of Cromwell. Monu- 
ments of Queens Mary and Elizabeth, who are buried here. 
Here is also the sarcophagus containing the bones of the two 
children of Edward IV. 

Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor contains the monu- 
ments of Henry III., Queen Eleanor, Henry V., Henry VII. 
The saddle, helmet and shield used by King Henry VII. at the 
battle ofAgincourt are shown here. Tombs of Edward III., 
Richard II. The old and new coronation chairs are seen here. 
The famous Scotland sconce stone is placed in this corona- 
tion chair. The chair with the stone was used by Edward I. in 
1257, and every English monarch from that day to the pres- 
ent time, including her majesty Victoria, have been crowned 
in this chair in which is placed the Scots' sconce stone. 
This stone belonged to the chair of the ancient kings of Scot- 
land, and connected with it is a legend or prophecy that those 
crowned upon and possessing it will rule over Scodand, and 
so strong is custom, habit or superstition, that no monarch of 
England would dare or would venture or would be permitted 
to be crowned without this old stone in the chair. 



344 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The momuments of Knight Templars, with the figures of 
the ten knights who accompanied King Edmon to the Holy 
Land. A monument to Gen. Wolfe, who fell at Quebec in 
our Colonial wars ; also the monuments of Sir John Franklin 
and James T. Simpson are here We visited the Jerusalem 
Cha77iber, Imed with cedar from Lebanon ; in this room is a 
long table, at which was made King Jame's translation of the 
Bible, also the New translation. 

WINDSOR CASTLE. 

Sept. 15th. — Visited this immense structure, one of the resi- 
dences of her Majesty Queen Victoria, situated some twenty- 
five miles from London. 

William the Conqueror first erected a castle here, which was 
added to by Henry L, Henry H., Edward HI., George IV., 
and almost every other monarch since William the Conqueror, 
until it is said to be the largest and finest royal residence in 
the world, but while it is of great size and may have cost more 
money than any other palace, it certainly is not handsome, 
not near so beautiful as others we have seen in Europe, in 
Denmark, Germany, and other countries, while perhaps not at 
all like the Pitti palace in Florence, it reminds me much of 
this, to me, uncouth, structure. The castle covering many 
acres, consists of two courts, the upper and lower wards. The 
tower, a strong fortress with great houses, all surrounded by 
massive, high walls, stands upon a high eminence where was 
built the first fortress or stronghold, by William the Conqueror. 
We could not enter St. George's, it being closed from some 
cause, possibly as being her majesty's chapel was too sacred 
for the vulgar to enter. We passed through the corridors of 
the Albert chapel, an old monastery, founded by Henry H., 
but the main chapel of this was also closed. We were, how- 
ever, politely shown through the State apartments of the castle, 
the rooms are of Gothic architecture and handsomely deco- 



LONDON. 345 

rated, on the walls are hundreds of full-sized portraits of royal 
persons, many of these are by the old Flemish and Dutch 
masters. One room contains exclusively portraits by Van 
Dyck and is called the Van Dyck room. The grand recep- 
tion room is finely decorated in the Rococo style and is hung 
with tapestries representing Jason and Media. Another, the 
Rubens' room, contains portraits only, by Rubens, some ten 
or twelve in number. 

The beautiful terrace gives a fine view of the immediate 
surroundings, but the finest view is obtained from the lofty 
parapets of the Round Tower. 

EATON COLLEGE. 

Eaton College, one of the best known colleges in England, 
principally attended by the sons of the privileged classes, is 
situated within the town of Windsor, about a mile from the 
castle. We visited it, passed through its beautiful Gothic 
church with its finely carved oak stalls and beautiful stained 
windows. It contains many monuments and inscriptions to 
illustrious dead, and is 500 years old. 

All this college and grounds are sacred to the muse of Gray, 
whose Ode upon Eaton College will be read by children's 
children when its classic walls shall have crumbled to decay. 

We took carriage here and drove to Stoke Poges, whose neat 
little country church-yard has been made classic ground by 
one who sleeps here and whose beautiful Elegy will outlast the 
hillocks of which he sang. 

The old church is in a good state of preservation and 
embossed by old trees, while a thick mantle of ivy clings to 
its walls to their roof. Many of the tombs and tomb-stones 
are also covered by ivy so as to entirely conceal them, giving 
them a very grave-Hke appearance. Hundreds of the graves 
as in the time of Gray, are mere hillocks of earth where " the 
rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep," as unpretentiously now 
as when the poet sung of them. 



346 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

THE poet's tomb. 

This, an unpretentious one, is near the front end of the 
church. The place was indicated as we approached by a 
group of visitors standing around it. The grass is kept trod- 
den away near its sides by the multitudes of those who do 
homage to this shrine of the Muses. A tablet placed in the 
wall of the church near by, informs us that the body of the 
poet Gray, also that of his mother, Hes in this vault. The 
quiet beauty of its surroundings is in keeping with the gende, 
kindly nature of him whose body lies here. 

Some three or four hundred yards from the church, m the 
edge of a wood where he loved to walk and commune with 
nature, is a handsome monument, erected by his admirers to 
his memory. The sides of the monument contain verses from 
his Elegy and other poems. 

The granite, elaborate, costly and handsome tomb of Lord 
Beaconsfield is at the opposite end of the church, and although 
this contains the body of one of England's greatest writers, 
orators and prime ministers, it receives not half so much atten- 
tion as the simple, unpretentious tomb of Gray. 

The grounds, parks or lordly manor of Stoke Poges are 
exceedingly beautiful, with a palatial residence of its late 
owner, a most public-spirited and valuable citizen of great 
wealth and liberahty, but who sadly, unfortunately, ruinously, 
fell into the habit, the bane of many an Englishman, of drink- 
ing and betting on horse-racing, and, like many of these before 
him, lost his entire fortune. His lordly estate with its stud of 
200 horses, many of them the finest in the kingdom, flocks 
and herds of sheep and deer, all were sold at public auction 
under mortgage ; a beggared family, wife and children, driven 
from their ancestral home, out upon a cold world, unprotected, 
perhaps unpit\ied. His misfortunes, as is not unfrequently 
the case, drove him to drinking deeper ever deeper and he 



LONDON. 347 

died drunk in Paris a few months since, a drunkard and a 
pauper. The recital of his sad misfortune threw a sombre 
shadow over Stoke Poges, not relieved by the golden glories 
of a setting sun and which seemed to follow us along the 
trimmed hedges and shaded avenues along which we drove 
on our return home. The country over which we drove, from 
Windsor to Stoke Poges, is unsurpassed in quiet loveliness by 
any in the world. Much of the way was through shaded 
avenues or alongside of parks with large, old oaks that had 
battled with the storms of a thousand years. The entire 
country is fertile and the landscape the most English-like of 
all England. Leaving Stoke Poges, we drove to Slough, where 
we took cars for London. 

LONDON BRIDGE. 

The Old London Bridge was until the last loo years the 
only bridge across the Thames, in or near London, and is yet 
the most important to the citizens of London, although now 
there are many bridges spanning the river within the precincts 
of the city. It is built upon the site of the old wooden bridge 
first built by the Romans. From the fact that all the early 
bridges were at this point, which separates the Upper ixom. the 
Lower Thames, or constitutes the point where this distinction 
is made, we infer that there is a rock bed extending across the 
river at this point. 

This bridge cost $10,000,000, and 15,000 vehicles and 100,- 
000 foot passengers cross it daily, making it one of the most 
crowded thoroughfares in the world, and though fifty-four feet 
wide, so crowded was it that we found some difficulty in 
making our way across it. For many hundreds of years, at 
this point had been the only connection between the country 
lying on the opposite sides of the Thames, which for many 
miles above and below, quite to the sea, up to the eighteenth 
century remained impassible except by boats. Indeed it is 



348 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

yet the last or lowest bridge on the Thames. Below the bridge 
the river is as much crowded with steam, sail, and row vessels, 
barges, etc., as is the bridge with wagons, carriages, and foot 
passengers. 

BANK OF LONDON. 

The bank is a low, strong, stone wall of rooms running 
around and occupying with its rooms and inner court the entire 
block of ground, having on every side streets — crowded thorough- 
fares. There are no windows to be seen in the entire building, 
only blind walls, massive stone walls with no openings except 
an entrance or passway on two sides, and these are closed, at 
all other than business hours, by strong, double, iron doors, 
and guarded at all times by grim looking sentinels — soldiers 
in their red coats and muskets on their shoulders — standing as 
fixed and immobile as the iron posts or stone walls of the build- 
ing. It is lighted from the inside court and by gas or electricity, 
and in its vaults is the wealth of a world. Its influence is not 
only felt to the ends of the earth, but constitutes the motive 
power by which runs the trade and commerce of the entire 
globe, and every money centre in the world, Paris, Berlin, 
Vienna and New York respond to the throbbings of this 
money heart of the globe, and the fortunes of millions rise and 
fall with the bullion in its vaults. 

ST. Paul's cathedral. 

The present cathedral which is the third largest in the world, 
only St. Peter's at Rome and the Cathedral at Milan being 
larger, was built in 1675-97 on the site of the old cathedral 
erected in the time of the Saxons and burned down in the 
great fire in 1666, and cost $3,750,000. 

The cathedral is in the form of a Latin cross, with a nave 
500 feet in length and 118 feet wide, with the cross bar or 
transept 250 feet long. The dome rises 363 feet above the 
pavement. This church though a grand old structure of the 



T,ONDON. 349 

Renaissance style, and really imposing, as the third largest 
cathedral in the world, owes its chief importance, to the tourist 
at least, to the fact that like Westminster Abbey it is a Temple 
of Fame, and fortunately much less marred by the presence of 
tombs and monuments of worthless or unimportant, unhistorical 
persons, as mere lords or rich men and their children, all of 
whom though very proper persons to bury, and even to have 
costly mausoleums built over them, if anyone wishes to build 
them, yet are out of place, and mar by their presence a 
Temple of Fame. In what possible manner does it concern 
the world to know that Lord Pomposity, Bart., or the millionare 
Thom. Jones, lived or died, how, where or when, if they did 
nothing more than merely to live while they could and die 
when they could not help doing so ? 

It is quite different with a king of England, as no matter 
how worthless he may have been, while and as king of Eng- 
land he represented the nation -and at least some of the good 
or evil the nation did during his reign may well be attributed 
to his action or want of action. 

Most of the names met with here on monuments are known 
to the world, among these we noticed that of Admiral Lord 
Nelson, at the mention of whose name the multitudinous ghosts 
of two mighty French fleets, in unshrouded terror fill the air 
and sea at Trafalgar and Abourkir, while shouts of victory by 
the English marines whose hearts are stronger than their all 
oak ships, startle old Neptune from his caverned depths with a 
fury that lashes oceans mto maddened foam, that dashes the 
remnant of the French fleet to destruction, and denying 
sepulchre to her gallant dead casts their bodies upon the beach, 
and in the loudest requiem old ocean ever sung, the soul of 
the mighty Nelson leaves his flag-ship to bear aloft the battle- 
scared thrice-glorious flag of England's dear bought glory, and 
plant it upon the loftiest battlements of human fame froni 



35© SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

which the flag of victory ever floated. His splendid sarcopha- 
gus made of cannon, captured from England's foes is in the 
Cathedral Crypt. The pedestal of his enduring mausoleum is 
of grey granite brought from America, a worthy and time de- 
fying mausoleum this, that encloses this greatest of naval heroes, 
whose name and deeds shall live in song and story as long as 
ships shall dare the tempest and the flood. Next we meet the 
name and monument of J/<a;r^z/zV Cornwallis (of Yorktown 
memory), Sir Astley Cooper (the great surgeon). Gen. Sir 
John Moore ("nor in sheet nor in shroud we bound him"), Sir 
Ralph Abercrombie (our Continental Wars), Wellington, 
whose splendid and costly sarcophagus is in the Crypt of the 
cathedral, resting on the durable iron car upon which it, con- 
taining the body of the Iron Duke, was drawn by twelve horses 
in mournful procession through the streets of London, followed 
by half a million of sorrow stricken people ; it was then deposit- 
ed here to bid defiance to the tooth of time. The whole 
structure which would weigh many tons is made of the metal 
of captured cannon. Next a monument to the heroes who 
fell at Inkerman, Sir Joshua Reynolds (England's greatest 
painter). Lord Rodney, Napier (History Peninsular War), Gen. 
Sir Packenhani. This to the American is one of the most in- 
teresting monuments here. Gen. Packenham fell in the attack 
upon New Orleans, January 8th, 1815, after the Treaty of 
Peace between the two countries had been signed at Ghent. 

In this memorable battle. Gen. Jackson, who had obtained 
some reputation in the Seminole war, and who, like Napoleon 
I., was by nature a military commander, first applied the prin- 
ciple of movable parapets, or breastworks, afterwards so suc- 
cessfully used by Gen. Price at the siege of Lexington, Mo., 
by seizing the cotton bales, many thousands of which had 
accumulated at New Orleans, placing them in line with his 
backwoodsmen armed with their deer and squirrel rifles, be- 



LONDON. 



351 



hind them. Gen. Packenham, after easily, with the powerful 
guns of the fleet, silencing the mud forts at the mouth of the 
Mississippi, landed 12,000 British regulars, and marched 
directly upon the American breastworks, not doubting of an 
easy victory. But he mistook the character of those behind 
the cotton bales, for though unused to warfare, they were 
deadly marksmen. They were ordered to reserve their fire 
until the enemy came fairly mthin range of their hunting- 
rifles. This they did, and not until the enemy were within a 
hundred yards, and had already thought themselves in posses- 
sion of an easy victory, w^as the word given to fire. In an in- 
stant along the whole line of cotton bales ran a flash of light, 
and thousands of riflle bullets sped on their deadly mission, 
each ball hastening to its mark with unerring certitude. The 
whole front line of the brave British troops fell dead or mor- 
tally wounded. In vain those behind rushed over the dead 
bodies of their fallen comrades — these too were mowed down 
as fast as they came within the fatal line — a line 'twere suicide 
to cross. The metal of these hardy backwoodsmen was now 
fairly up, and these fearless pioneers, the sons of those who 
had driven the lurking savage from their wilderness homes, 
really enjoyed the deadly sport. Flash after flash lighted the 
line of breastworks, each flash of light hurrying thousands of 
bullets on their deadly mission. To meet or stand against this 
leaden hail were certain death, and the enemy, after a short, 
brave, but useless effort, fled from the field of death, leaving 
3,000 dead and dying on the plain. Among the mortally 
wounded was their brave commander, Gen. Packenham, whose 
dead body was placed in a hogshead of rum and brought home 
for burial here. 

Many other names known to fame are here. St. Paul, thus 
hallowed by the ashes of these noble dead, fittingly represents 
as a temple of fame, as well as by the noble architecture and 
grand proportion, the mightiest kingdom and people on earth. 



352 souvenirs of travel. 

Lincoln's inn and temple bar. 

Sept. 2'jth. — Visited this immense law establishment, con- 
sisting of a great number of buildings covering a large area of 
ground, with a park and gardens extending quite down to the 
Thames. In approaching the halls we pass through a quaint 
old gateway, upon which, it is said, Ben Jonson worked as a 
bricklayer. 

The building was not open at the time of our first arrival, 
but after walking around the building we fortunately met one 
of the members who kindly had the custodian show us through 
the halls and rooms. We first entered the library, with its 
25,000 volumes of law books, in old oaken book-stalls. Next 
the great dining hall, built in the style of the Tudors. It con- 
tains many portraits of distinguished men. A fine fresco by 
Watts. Its most valuable painting is a Paul before Fehx, by 
Hogarth. Fine portraits of Siddons, Goldsmith, Wm. Pitt, 
Lord Brougham. A part of this law establishment, the temple, 
was built in the twelfth century. For a great time it belonged 
to the Knight Templars, but has now long been a school of 
law. Oliver Goldsmith lived and died in one of its rooms, and 
the learned Blackstone occupied a room immediately under 
Goldsmith's, and it is related that the patience of Blackstone 
was often tried by the noise Goldsmith in his childish tricks 
kept up just above him. Dr. Johnson also occupied a room 
on Temple Lane, close by. 

The historical building, Temple Church, formerly belonged 
to the Knight Templars, consists of two parts — a round Nor- 
man-building some sixty feet in diameter, of the twelfth cen- 
tury, and a choir, in the early English style. In the round 
church are the bronze statues of eight knights, placed prostrate 
in full length on the floor, in full armor. Those who reached 
the Holy Land and did battle for the sepulchre, have their 
legs crossed, the others have theirs straight. The oaken stalls 



LONDON. 



>')bv) 



have rich carvings. We are brought face to face with the cru- 
saders, as these knights are of those who accompanied Richard 
C(Deur de Lion to Jerusalem. Numerous tombs in the yard 
around the church contain the bones of unknown crusaders. 
On the outside of the church in the graveyard, is the tomb, a 
simple unpretentious monument, of Oliver Goldsmith. We 
noticed beautiful wreaths of bright fresh flowers lying on either 
end of his tomb, immortelles, kept constantly here, placed by 
those who revere his muse. How -fitting such emblems to his 
pure and gende song. Sweet Auburn and the Vicar of Wake- 
field will be read and stir the heart as long as letters are cul- 
tivated. 

THE CRYSTAI- PALACE. 

This is situated some twelve miles from Charring Cross, but 
so great is the city of London that most of the way is through 
it. We took the cars at Holborn viaduct, in the central part 
of the city, and yet the depot is so situated that it is not even 
seen from the street, and the railroad so placed as not to in- 
terfere in the least with the crowded thoroughfares in this 
vicinity. At first we are under ground, then coming out from 
under the covered way we find ourselves above the streets, 
crowded with the busy commerce and passengers of this part 
of London. We continued high above the streets, the cross 
streets running umimpeded under the road which crosses the 
Thames above the old London Bridge, and continues for 
many miles over the city, on a line with the tops of the houses, 
which stretch in compact masses as far away in every direction 
as the eye can reach. Multitudes of men, women and children 
fill the streets below us, and the houses to their garrets. In 
the streets these stolid masses are seen pressing, crowding or 
sauntering along, as they hurry or loiter in their ceaseless 
struggle for, or disregard of, life. Here beneath us in the 
midst of all this life and motion is a little church, with its small 



354 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

graveyard crowded with head and foot boards, recording the 
names of the long-since-forgotten thousands who sleep beneath 
its grass-grown surface. Yet these remain here, with their 
slumbers undisturbed by the carking wants of living men, with 
houses crowding upon their narrow cells, while the busy living 
masses are hurrying by thoughtless of its presence. Perhaps if 
any regard this presence of death in their midst, it is the few 
who, weary of life, wish that they too had finished their labors, 
while the great mass move thoughtlessly, heedlessly on, obliv- 
ious to the past, indifferent to the present, and thoughtless of 
the future, a moving mass of stolid humanity, a human sea, 
whose generations break and are lost upon the shores of time, 
as are those of ocean upon its strands, leaving scarce a trace 
in the sands of life. Alas, 

IIow many sighs, how many tears, 

How many hopes, how many fears, 

Are given to each passing wind, 

By these masses of humankind. 

How many thoughtless in the strife, 
Alike of death as well as life, 
Without a thought, without a care, 
Are drifting on, to God knows where. 

After a run of half an hour over the city, through dense 
groves of trees, by flower gardens, clusters of houses, villages, 
towns, all alike, London and its immediate suburbs, we ar- 
rived at the Crystal Palace, standing on the margin of a beau- 
tiful, picturesque, undulating vale, like a stranded iceberg, a 
mountain of glory, alone unrivalled by any like structure in the 
world, a mountain of light, more like the work of fairy than of 
human hands — so fragile and airy that it looks as though in- 
tended as a gossamer palace for butterflies and humming-birds, 
and yet so strong that it treinbles not at the weight of ten 
thousand men, and so spacious that its vast halls and recesses 
hold the restored palaces and works of art of a hundred cities, 



LONDON. 355 

with goods of every description, and curiosities from every 
land, and in incredible quantities — lakes and fountains, with 
the fruits and vegetables of many gardens, together with whole 
forests of plants and flowers — and yet is not full. 

This wonderful structure all of iron and glass, is i,6o8 feet 
long, with two transepts, the one 370 long, with wings flanked 
by towers 250 feet high. It covers eight acres of ground and 
in some parts is three stories in height, giving twelve acres of 
flooring. Upon the great floor is a Pompeiian house restored, 
the court, the dining-room, reception room, kitchen and bed 
rooms, just as they existed in Pompeii, 2,000 years ago, with 
the mosaics on the floor and beautiful frescoes on the walls, 
just as we had seen them in Pompeii. A restored temple and 
palace from the long lost ruins of the city of Karnak, with 
halls, statues, frescoes and all much as they appeared in the 
time of the Pharaohs 5,000 years ago. The Moorish Palace, 
the Alhambra, all of great size, and yet occupying but a small 
part of this building. 

The room of the Great Organ seats 4,000 persons ; a large 
theater and concert hall, seat each 4,000 persons. A band of 
forty musicians were playing in the concert room, other halls 
contain ethnological groups, representing the persons and cus- 
toms of all the peoples of the world least known to Europeans. 
Thousands of statues, casts and works of art constitute a 
wondrous museum of Greek, Roman, Norman and Renaissance 
art, forming for the connoisseur and student a connected 
school of these. Among these are fac simile casts of such 
works as of Laocoon, the destruction of the children of Niobe, 
Venus, of Milo, Michael Angelo's Moses and David, the gates 
of the Baptistry of Florence, the Parthenon and Colosseum of 
Rome, tombs from Italy and England, and an indescribable 
amount of other things in casts, almost as perfect and beauti- 
ful as were the originals we had seen in a hundred cities 



356 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

throughout Europe. Well may these have been collected for 
a world's exhibition, and well may they be retained here in 
this city that reflects in no mean microcosm the world and all 
it contains. 

We spent the day wandering through these rooms and great 
halls containing much of the curiosities and art treasures (in 
casts) of the world, hurried from things of great interest to those 
of greater, missing many more of perhaps yet greater worth, 
until late in the evening, when tired in body, with brains over- 
crowded with sight-seeing, we returned home without being 
able to walk over and through the vast adjoining flower gar- 
den with its lakes, fountains, buildings, towers and works of 
art. The landscape view from the lofty galleries is among 
the most beautiful in the world. Through strong glasses this is 
seen as a long line of variagated smiling vale, enclosed with 
gently sloping hills, bespangled with hedges, fields, gardens, 
forests and palaces, like dissolving views or shifting panoramas, 
light as floating summer clouds and lovely as fields of Eden, 
and would well repay a visit to this place were there nothing 
else to be seen, and where we listened and scarce in vain to hear 
the song of birds of Paradise. It was doubtless here Milton 
wrote his Paradise Regained and where the Crystal Palace now 
is he placed his celestial city. AVhat prophetic vision ! 

THE TOWNER OF LONDON. 

The oldest portion of this is the White Tower, built by Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, in 1078, and is so named from being 
built of white stone, which, though yellowed by time, presents 
to the present day a conspicuous portion of the tower rising ui 
a massive white square structure standing in the midst of the 
fortress. 

This tower is said to be the glory and shame of England ; its 
glory, however, is not so readily seen in its history, while the 
dark shadows of shame thrown across England's history by 



LONDON. 



357 



deeds done here, blur many a page for at least 500 years. 
Its rough, frowning walls fitly represent the dark and cruel 
character of England's tyrants, while its pavement and court 
are dyed, crimsoned with the blood of the noblest and fairest 
of the land, whom these tyrants seemed to think were born for 
no other purpose than to be butchered. The whole history 
of this tower cries in thunder-tones against the divine right of 
kings, warning the world against the danger, the fearful terror 
of placing absolute power in the- hands of any individual 
whether he be called king or protector, of placing the purse 
and the sword in any power not directly amenable to the 
people. To learn that kings and priests are equally the 
enemies of freedom, has cost England, as it has other countries, 
rivers of its noblest blood and lighted the horrid fires of Smith- 
field. The block and axe being considered the best persuasive 
by kmgs, while flames and the stake were preferred for crush- 
ing out freedom oi religious thought. 

This place built as a palace, castle and strong fort, with 
twelve or fifteen strong, high towers and battlement walls 
while sometimes used as a palace, was more frequently a 
prison, with dark, gloomy and often subterranean passages and 
cells. Many of these cells were dimly lighted and some of 
them were only large enough for a person to stoop or sit in, 
without either light or ventilation. In these, unfortunate vic- 
tims of tyranny were confined until relieved by death — either 
starvation or strangulation — or they went forth to meet a 
more merciful death on the block. 

The first of a long line of prisoners beheaded within the 
tower, was the Earl of Huntington, who was beheaded in the 
reign of Henry IV. Previous to this it had been a prison, but 
not a slaughter-house as well. William Wallace and many of 
his brave nobles had been confined here and taken out to 
Smithfield and horribly beheaded during the reign of Edmund 



358 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

I. During the reign of Edmund II., the king of France was 
long held a prisoner here, and during his entire reign the 
tower was filled with prisoners, many of whom only left it to 
be beheaded. 

In entering the tower we passed over a wide moat, spanned 
by a stone bridge, and passed through the portcullis, the gate 
of which had been removed ; but the grooves in which it fitted 
with the long iron spikes above are here yet. The entire 
fortress is surrounded by a deep, wide moat, which was formerly 
half filled with water. It is now dry, but can even now be 
flooded by hoisting the gates. In passing we stood at the 
Traitor's Gate, which has a flight of wide stone steps leading 
down to the river Thames. Formerly those accused of treason 
were brought by water and landed at this gate, from which 
they passed immediately into the prison, for the most part 
leaving hope behind. 

Itwasat4;his gate Princess Elizabeth was landed on her 
arrest after the Wyatt rebellion, during the reign of Mary. Her 
fate, however, was less tragical than most of those who entered 
here. She owed her preservation perhaps less to the clemency 
of her sister Mary, who was at this time affianced to Philip II.,. 
of Spain, and much under the influence of the Spanish Catho- 
lic party, than to the fear justly entertained by these that if 
Elizabeth should be harshly dealt with, a far more formidable 
rising than that of Wyatt would hurl the Catholic party from 
place and power, would certainly prevent the hated and justly- 
feared Spanish Union, as Elizabeth was the hope of the Prot- 
estant cause, and therefore the idol of the English people. 
And then most likely deep schemes of those in power, and 
who were more anxious to serve themselves than the State, 
may have had much more influence in saving Elizabeth than 
can now be determined. And then we must do Mary the 
justice to suppose her influenced by natural ties and a sense 



LONDON. 359 

of ji'istice not unmixed with that delicate shrinking from acts 
of violence naturally associated with her sex. For while Mary 
was a bigot, believing her own salvation and all others* de- 
pended upon a strict adherence to the Roman Catholic Church, 
she was not the dark and bloody wretch history has painted 
her. Her faults as a woman, not directly attributable to her 
bigotry, were few — as a queen, scarcely more. Perhaps in both 
respects she was as admirable as " Good Queen Bess," whose 
virtues have been magnified in song and story from the day of 
her accession to the throne to the present times. At this, the 
Traitor's Gate, eighteen years before the Princess Elizabeth, 
another and more hapless prisoner was landed — the unfortu- 
nate Anne Boleyn, who fell a victim to the cruelty of one of 
the darkest and most bloody despots that ever disgraced a 
throne or human nature, Henry VHI. She was imprisoned, 
beheaded and buried here. 

The White Tower, long a prison and slaughter-house, and 
whose every stone is big with human groans and incarnadined 
with human gore, is now a museum of ancient military weapons 
and armor. Full-suits, horse armor, as well as that for knights 
and common soldiers, are here in great quantity and complete- 
ness, both chain and plate, leaving nothing wanting to instruct 
us as to the ancient coat of mail, worn at tournament or on the 
battle-field. A complete study is also furnished of ancient, 
mediaeval and modern weapons of warfare. And if we are 
astonished at the weight of some of these suits of steel armor, 
weighing ninety and one hundred pounds, we are not less so 
at the great weight and size of some of these battle-axes and 
spears and swords. Among the weapons that have played an 
important part in the English wars are long and crossbows, 
two of the former lately obtained from a sunken ship, where 
they had been for 300 years, are longbows made from the 
yew-tree, which from their great size and length must have 



360 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

required an arrow five or six feet long and a man of great 
strength to bend them. These longbo\YS m the hands of the 
strong, well-skilled English yeomen were, as was proven on 
many a well-contested battle-field, a most formidable weapon 
against an enemy not clad in steel. 

The study given here of firearms is most complete, interest- 
ing and instructive, from the old styles of match-lock and flint- 
lock, to the percussion-cap-lock and the present breech-loading 
rifle. Some of the old cannon are curious, being made of bars 
of iron placed in juxtaposition longitudinally and secured by 
iron bands Avi'apped around them and welded together as an 
external coat. Also are sho^vll here instruments of torture 
used to wring; from unfortunate victims secrets thev often did 
not possess. Among these are thumb-screws, by which the 
fingers were mashed by means of a screw, the wheel and the 
rack upon which prisoners were broken, and then an instru- 
ment more kind than these, the block and axe, on, and with, 
which they were beheaded. 

In front of the Traitor's Gate is the Bloody Tower, so 
named as being the place where the two children, Edward V., 
aged twelve, and his brother Richard, eight years old, were 
confined and murdered by their inhuman uncle, the Duke of 
Gloucester. They were buried here under the staircase, where 
their bones were found long afterwards. But these were not 
the only hapless victims of tyranny whose untimely taking- 
off this room has witnessed. Its blood-stained floor cries loud 
to heaven against England's kings and rulers. 

From the Bloody Tower a stairway leads to St. John's 
Chapel, a beautiful Gothic room within the White Tower. It 
is interesting from its pure Norman architecture, the best 
now in England, with rows of heavy pillars, no two cap- 
itols alike, with square cornice and base. A wide triforium 
surrounds them. The historic importance of this chapel is 



LONDON. 361 

great. Xhe adjoining prison has upon its walls, as have most 
of the rooms, inscriptions and carved devices of their hapless 
inmates, who passed from here to execution.. These sad me- 
mentoes, often all of those who wrote them that time has left 
us, speak in mournful accents from all these prison walls. In 
St. John's Chapel lie buried the headless bodies of the wives of 
Henry VIII., Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Cath- 
erine Hase.' And here also is the grave of the lovely, inno- 
cent, pure and learned Lady Jane Grey, who fell a sacrifice to 
the ambition of the Duke of Northumberland, her father-in-law, 
and to that of her husband, Lord Dudley, both of whom were 
also beheaded and buried here ; also the Lady Rockford, and the 
Countr;ss of Saulisbury, the Duke of Suffolk, Duke of Norfolk, 
Earl of Arundel, Earl of Essex, and Sir Thomas Averly, all be- 
headed, and alike the victims of tyranny. But unfortunately 
this long list comprises not all, nor most. Some forty or fifty 
others, the noblest of the English nobility, lords and ladies, lie 
here, constituting this a frightful charnel-house, and also a 
slaughter-house, as they were beheaded here, murdered here. 
No other place on earth holds so many noble, wise and great 
victimc of tyranny, so many murdered great men and women, 
making this tower the mausoleum of the murdered great. 
But those murdered and buried here and in the adjoining 
court, constitute but a small part of the victims this old tower 
has held, as most of them were led forth to public execution 
by the axe, or perished at the stake in Smithfield. For let it 
never be forgotten that wtiile these bloody executions were 
going on Smithfield was lighted up by the sickly glare of fires 
that consumed those who died for opinion's sake — for their re- 
ligion. While Henry VIII. was rioting in the blood of his 
wives and nobles who perished by the score on the block. 
Bishop Cranmer and Ridley urged the tyrant to strike and 
spare not those who deemed conscientous convictions dearer 



362 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

than life. And these two bishops stood by and mocked by exhor- 
tations, on patience and fortitude to their victims as they writhed 
or screamed amidst the flames, and as if in answer to the blood 
of these victims of Chm-ch, avenging heaven hoisted these two 
holy villians on their own petard, and gave them an opportu- 
nity of tasting the pleasures of the death they inflicted upon 
others, as the same bloody tyrant who burned their victims, in 
answer to their prayers, afterwards burned them also. Another 
instance of retributive justice this old prison witnessed, was the 
mfamous Judge Jeffreys, who only escaped decapitation by 
dying in prison. It was almost a pity that this monster cheated 
the scaffold by dying in prison instead of on the block, where 
he had consigned so many others with a disregard of justice or 
mercy that disgrace ahke the judge, the man and the nation. 
Fortunately for our good opinion of human nature, and the 
hope tnat man is less cruel than ravenous wolves or hyenas, 
this dark- and bloody spot, London Tower, has no parallel in 
the world's history. No other twelve acres has ever witnessed 
a hke amount of cruelty and bloodshed of the fairest and 
noblest of the land by the unbridled, licentious, blood-thirsty, 
diabolism of rulers. And now that governors and the governed, 
tyrants and their victims, alike have long since passed away, 
have long since met in the grave, have moulded to common 
dust and been adjudged at a tribunal where no distinction is 
made between kings and then- victims, may we not rejoice in 
the fact that, thanks to the age, the last sad dying groan has 
passed away, and the blood-stained walls and pavement have 
lost their crimson hue, the bloody axe and block are laid up as 
witnesses of the past, as mementoes of the strife through 
which man attained his freedom, while the fires of Smithfield 
have gone out, never again to be relighted by the bigotry of 
priests or tyranny of rulers, from both of whom the divine 
right of destroying their fellow-man, has passed forever away, 



LONDON. 363 

fled before the new gospel that man alone is divine, and the 
prison converted to arts of peace. 

KEW GARDENS. 

Oct. 20th. — Visited this important Botanical Garden. Took 
the cars at Waterloo Station. Leaving this station we pass 
for many miles over, and by, crowded streets and houses — the 
city full and overflowing with people and all the hopes of busy 
life. We are hurried on, but still in the city, with its seemingly 
interminable crowded streets and ■ houses. After a run of 
manp miles open spaces begin to appear — a garden, now a 
grove of trees, again clusters of houses, now open spaces, 
pastured lawns, meadows, fields. The Thames is crossed many 
times, when we reach Kew Bridge Station, and crossing over 
this on foot we enter Kew Garden, which with the pleasure 
grounds contain 300 acres. 

The grounds are beautifully laid off in i^quares, circles, cubes 
and artistic flower-beds, and long pleasant shaded walks. 
There are some four large hothouses filled with ferns, orchids 
palms and cacti. The palm house, 362 feet long, 100 wide, 
and some 70 feet high, contains every known variety of palms, 
many of them of great size and beauty. Near by this is the 
tropical lily house, containing a great variety of lilies. The 
large central room is occupied by a tank fifty by thirty-five 
feet, 1,800 square feet, which contains the crowning glory of 
the lily world, the Victoria Regia, obtained from the river 
Amazon, South America. The main plant is in the center of 
the tank. From this long stems run ofl", reaching quite to the 
edges of the tank. These stems look like large ropes, and 
terminate each in a great leaf three to six feet in diameter, as 
much as eighteen feet in circumference, which rises to and floats 
upon the surface of the water as broad discs with turned-up 
edges hke a plate or frying-pan. Some of the largest of these 
leaves would readily bear up a child. Other similar stems give 



364 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

origin at their extremity to the marvelously large and beautiful 
lily, which, like the leaves, floats upon the water surface. The 
season of flowering is in August, but though now October, 
fortunately one or two of these gorgeous lilies were in full 
bloom, and blushed in lovelier tints than Tyrean purple 
ever gave. Truly Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of them. 

There are also a number of botanical museums, One of 
these built by Miss North, has hanging upon its walls hundreds 
of drawings of plants made in all parts of the world by Miss 
North, placed in neat frames with written botanical descrip- 
tions, and arranged geopraphically — all done and presented to 
the botanical gardens, as well as the building, by this estima- 
ble, highly-gifted, cultivated and pubhc-spirited lady. The 
vast amount of labor and time and expense necessary to ac- 
complish this work is seen in the perfection, number, and wide 
geographical range of the collection. 

At the far end of the grounds stands a beautiful pagoda 
ten stories high, from the summit of which a view of the 
grounds and adjoining country is given. We spent here the 
entire day — a beautiful October day, a day when every tree 
had put on its respective and variegated autumnal robe. The 
birch and ash trees blushed in purple and crimson, while maples 
and lindens shone in silver and gold, colors painted in hyaline 
tints caught not from earth, but heaven, the very bordering 
groves of Eden. And among flower-beds where roses and 
geraniums blushed as at the touch of the waning year they 
reluctantly left the parting stem to join their lovely companions 
that with fading blushes covered the ground and filled the air 
with sweetest perfume known to fields of Eden. We returned 
late in the afternoon quite tired but having had a most de- 
lightfully pleasant and instructive day. 



LONDON. 365 

ST. THOMAS HOSPITAL AND COLLEGE. 

Oct. nth. — Visited by invitation St. Thomas Hospital to 
witness an important operation by the surgeon in charge, Sir 
Wm. Makormac, well known to many of the physicians in St. 
Louis. The operation was beautifully and successfully per- 
formed. 

St. Thomas is one of the oldest and most important of the 
many London hospitals. The new buildings are truly palatial 
in size and elegance, as also in the truly royal comfort of the 
apartments for patients. It is nearly a third of a mile in 
length, situated on the bank of the Thames opposite the 
House of Parliament, which it almost equals in elegance of 
construction. It consists of seven four-storied brick buildings 
connected by arcades. The buildings alone cost $2,500,000. 

At 3 p. M. attended the hospital surgical amphitheatre to 
listen to the Inaugural Address of St. Thomas Hospital Med • 
ical College by one of the surgeons, Prof. McKeller. The 
address was truly English — able and practical. 

St. Thomas Medical College is adjoining the hospital and 
well-furnished with valuable museums of anatomical and patho- 
logical specimens and preparations, and all other requisites for 
the successful teaching of medicine, while its connection with 
the wards of this immense hospital gives every facility for prac- 
tical knowledge. With all these advantages, together with its 
present able, active, and zealous professors, we doubt not that 
the time is near at hand when a diploma from this institution 
will be a ready passport to the highest professional honors. 

At 9 p. M. attended, by special invitation of Sir Wm. 
McKormac, and courtesy of ♦.he Faculty, the annual dinner of 
the older students, curators and professors of St. Thomas 
Hospital Medical College. It was a splendid affair, many dis- 
tinguished physicians and surgeons belonging to, or older grad- 
uates of, the college ; among the number not a few Sirs or 



366 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

Lords. Regular toasts Avere announced and many excellent 
speeches made. The dinner, speeches and all, were much such 
as in the United States. Perhaps the proceedings were a little 
more formal, dignified, than with us. The speeches, however, 
though clever, certainly were not any better than would have 
been with us in St. Louis, if as here the speakers had known 
in time what toast they were to reply to, while they lacked 
much of the ready wit that a like occasion would have called 
forth with us. There was, however, one distinction not ob- 
served with us on like occasions, all the guests were in full 
court dress. This gave it a rather formal court appearance — 
otherwise it was not at all so. 

In attendance upon the clinics I noticed Sir Wm. McKormac 
speaking to the head nurses, or attendants, as Lady so and so. 
At the conclusion of the clinic I asked him if he here used the 
term lady in the American or EngHsh sense, when he assured 
me that he used it in the EngHsh sense, that these young 
women were of gentle birth and education, were the daughters 
of lords and ladies, and were here, some from in part necessity, 
but many for sweet charity ; that every now and then a young 
ph3^sician married one of these, and indeed they were so gentle, 
refined and lovely that the term old maid was hallowed by 
association with some of these. And on my return to our 
hotel I got into trouble by telling my wife that I wished I 
was a young -physician. Well, I told her that I did not mean 
it that way. 

THE SCOTCH UNIVERSITY CLUB. 

Nov. nth, 188 J. — Attended the annual dinner of the Edin- 
burgh University Club, to which I had been invited by Prof. 
Wm. Playfair, physician to Her Majesty Queen A^ictoria, who 
introduced me to many of the most distinguished physicians 
and surgeons of London, among them Ericson, author of system 
of surgery — nearly all Scots and graduates of Edinburgh Uni- 



LONDON. 367 

versity. It was a really a grand feast of body and flow of 
soul, a most enjoyable occasion. Dr. Ericsonwho is a Scotch- 
man, an Edinburgh graduate, is a candidate for Parliament, as 

is also Sir , the present Lord Advocate of Edinburgh, who 

was also present at the supper. These two distinguished Edm- 
burgers are opposition candidates and were personally unac- 
quainted with each other, having never before met. Both 
made most excellent speeches in-which they alluded to their 
opponent in the most kindly and flattering terms, each com- 
plimenting the other, expressing delight in the fact that if de- 
feated it would be by one so far superior to themselves. This 
of itself would have made the occasion a most enjoyable one, 
and received loud plaudits from their friends, most of whom at 
this supper being for Dr. Ericson. 

Dr. Sierchenny, LL. D., was in the chair, and whose gen- 
uine Scottish wit and humor gave zest to the occasion, elicit- 
ing many brilliant scintillations from his fellows of the Uni- 
versity Club. The short speeches given in reply to toasts 
were always classical and to the point, and often brilliant. 

The banquet was given in the High Holborn Restaurant, 
said to be the finest dining hail in the world. It is lined with 
the most bnautiful and costly variegated marble, with numer- 
ous beautiful marble columns and brilliantly lighted with costly 
chandeliers. It is said that the marble alone cost more than 
half a million of dollars. The menu beginning with Heutres 
and ending with Cafe Noir, left nothing to be wished for. All 
kinds of costly wines and liquors were served at frequent in- 
tervals. The favorite drink, however, was a truly Scottish one, 
contained in the Loving Cup. The drink was something like 
hot champ-Bgne punch, and the Loving Cup a large silver 
pitcher with large handles on either side, and movable top. 
This is entirely Scottish, cup and contents, as well as the man- 
ner of using it. It is of great antiquity and redolent with deeds 



368 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of daring and high carnival. Its very presence inspires a 
Scotchman with rememberance of bonny Scotland and Uni- 
versity Club life. The Loving Cups filled with hot punch 
were passed up and down the long table at short intervals — 
each one of the guests doing it full justice, not only on account 
of its contents but also in remembrance of Auld Lang Syne. 
The manner of using the cup belongs to the Scotch clans, 
when Highland chieftains marshalled their kin and marched 
with Wallace or Bruce to death or victory. The cup is handed 
to the first man at the head of the table, who, turning around 
presents it to the next man, who removes the top, the first^man 
holding the now open picture in both hands says Ahna Mater 
and drinks. He then hands it to the next one, who goes 
through the same ceremony, repeating Alma Alater and 
drinking ; and in this manner the pitcher passes around the 
table, and as it is a very agreeable as well as patriotic drink, 
it went around often. 

We had fine music on the piano, accompanied with vocal 
music, the entire company joining in the more patriotic airs, 
the last of which was " Auld Lang Syne" ; and as the Loving 
Cup had passed often this beautiful, touching, truly Scottish 
song was sung with much patriotic animation, all the company 
joining in the singing, and what may appear a little strange, 
all the company singing well, having greatly improved in this 
respect during the feast. The evening was a most delightful 
one, the company being of the highest literary culture and 
social position, including not a few of the Scotch nobility. 

Nov. 1 2th. — Left London for Paris via Folkstone. Remained 
at Paris some three weeks, when we left Dec. 4th for Nice, 
where we remained until Spring. 

NICE. 

Nice is an old city, having been built by the Greeks in the 
fifth century, B. C. In B. C. 50 it fell, as did all other parts of 



NICE. 369 

Greece, under the all conquering influence of Rome, a power 
that, in the providence of the world, was the hope of men — 
turning the darkness of savage forests into gardens. The 
Greeks have left little or no evidence of their existence here, 
but military Rome has left here, as in all parts of Europe, last- 
ing traces of her occupancy and civilization, in walls of fortress- 
es, amphitheatres, temples, roads and bridges, some of which, 
in a tolerable state of preservation exist here, and in almost 
every other part of the Rivera. After Rome had been sacked 
by the Goths and Huns and Vandals, who, in extinguishing the 
light of the world, were themselves illuminated by its dying 
embers. This part of the Rivera was overrun in the ninth 
century by the Saracens, and Nice became a Moslem city. 
These Mohamedans, like the Greeks have left little or no trace 
of their former occupancy, Rome, only Rome, asserts herself 
in her mighty ruins from the night of ages. 

This city has about 80,000 inhabitants, is neatly built, and 
consists mostly of hotels and pensions, it having been for fifty 
years the favorite winter resort of the Rivera. The city is 
situated in the South of France, on the shores of the Mediter- 
renean, 670 miles from Paris, in a deep indentation of the shore 
line of mountains which surround the city in a semi-circle on 
the north, stretching from the southeast to the southwest, en- 
tirely protecting the city from the cold winds of the North, 
Northeast and Northwest. Its southern exposure is upon the 
Mediterranean, whose dark blue waters stretch southward, be- 
yond the horizon. This beautiful sea, with its numerous white 
sails of pleasure boats or fishing smacks, with the occasional 
passing of a small coast steamer, gives an additional charm to 
Nice. 

The city has no commercial or manufacturing importance, 
having only a small inland harbor, capable of admitting light 
crafts only. The old town was built to the east of the small 



370 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

river Paglione, a small mountain torrent, often dried up in 
summer. This stream has been walled in with high stone 
walls, and for a distance of half a mile has been arched over, 
and a beautiful garden planted with trees, shrubs and flowers, 
and a long, Hght, ornamental building erected, which is used 
as a museum and restaurant. To the north is the long, low line 
of mountains and foot hills, which immediately surround the 
city. Lying beyond is the loftier range of Maritime Alps, which 
present a long serrated line of snow, the higher peaks of which 
are seen from the city. The entire range, for many miles, is 
brought into view by ascending the high points of the hills that 
form the amphitheatre. The old part of the city, now occu- 
pied by the poorer class of natives, presents the high walls and 
narrow alley-like streets found in the mediaeval cities of Europe. 
Many of the houses long antidate the discovery of America. 
The western part, or new city, has wide, neatly paved and 
planted streets, built by or for the English or other foreigners. 
This part of the city has every comfort and sanitary precaution, 
giving it a neat, pleasant and healthy appearance. Numerous 
orange and palm gardens are seen throughout the city. These 
orange trees, loaded with bright fruit, give, with the palm trees, 
quite a semi-tropical appearance. The entire coast, fronting 
the town, has been beautifully ornamented with a rude quay, 
well paved or graveled, and planted with palms and flowering 
shrubs. Much of this was laid out and planted by the English 
people, resident and visiting here, and is called the ''Promenade 
des Anglais r During fine weather, and the weather is nearly 
always fine here, multitudes of fashionable, gaily dressed peo- 
ple are seen on this promenade every afternoon. A beautiful, 
small, public garden, the '' Jar din Publique'' near the fine 
stone bridge, the "/^f?;^/^ iVJx/f^/.fi^/z," is on the ''Promenade 
des Anglais,'''' and is quite a gem, embowered with palms, 
pepper and eucalyptus, globulus trees. In the middle of the 



NICE. 371 

garden is a music stand, at which a band plays every afternoon 
and evening. There are several public halls at which lectures 
are delivered by scientific and literary gentlemen every day, 
ft-ee. The English, also the Americans, have churches, there 
is a Protestant French church. There is also a fine Opera 
House, with an excellent company, the singing is very fine. 
Here is a theatre. These attractions with the villas, drives, 
walks, old Roman ruins, decayed castles and grottoes, render 
Nice, with its soft climate and beautiful shores, a favorite 
winter resort for the inhabitants' of northern Europe. The 
orange and lemon trees are loaded with bright fruit all winter, 
while the open gardens are filled with bright roses, pinks, 
violets and other flowers, giving a summer-like appearance, not 
always in keeping with the weather," which is sometimes cold or 
disagreeably chilly. In the last of December we had a slight 
snow which remained on the ground several days with the 
ground slightly frozen, and yet, strange to say, the flowers and 
vegetables were not killed, and we have had green peas, fresh 
from the gardens, all winter. We have had fires all winter, 
while the natives, much less warmly clothed, almost never see 
a fire, we noticed this same thing last winter in Florence and 
Rome, where the natives seem hardly to know the use of fire 
for warming purposes. 

Castle Hill to the west of the city rises 300 or 400 feet 
abruptly above the sea, and hangs direcdy over the little 
artificially prepared harbor. It aff"ords a beautiful view of the 
city and coast range. Its summit is crowned with a ruined 
castle, with heavy old Roman ruined walls running around its 
crest, showing it to have been the site of a Roman Fort. A 
large stream of fresh water falls from its crest over the face of 
a rumed casde. in a beautiful cascade. Seen from the city it 
presents a most beautiful, sparkling silver appearance. The crest 
of this hill has been ornamented and planted in orange, lemon, 



372 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

palm and aloes. Numerous peafowls are kept here, whose bright 
plumage is only in keeping with their surroundings. To the 
north near the hills is the beautiful villa, Bermand, where died 
in 1865 Nicholas, heir apparent to the crown of Russia. Over 
the room in which he died has been erected a handsome 
memorial Greek chapel, containing some good Greek paintings 
and frescoes. The adjacent grounds are ornamented with 
orange, palm and eucalyptus trees and flower gardens. 

A SILVER WEDDING. 

Dec. 2^th. — This being the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mr. 
and Mrs. Cupples' wedding day, who with their nieces were 
staying here, as were also Mr. Gregg and family, all of St. 
Louis, at the Hotel Grande, we were all invited to a sumptuous 
6 o'clock dinner. The o'ccasion was most enjoyable — the 
feast truly royal, with music, flowers, Yankee Doodle banners, 
etc. We remained feasting and talking over home and friends 
we had left behind us until a late hour, not forgettmg to wish 
that our youthful friends might live to celebrate their golden 
wedding, and that we might be there to assist them. A few 
days after we with our niece. Miss Overall, were invited by Mr. 
Cupples to take the most delightful drive in the world, along 
the coast, over the high foot hills, witli the bright blue Medi- 
terranean spreading out in placid beauty a thousand feet below 
us. We were in two four-horse carriages, and these four 
horses were assisted by two others in steep places. The day 
was bright, clear, calm and warm. The road passes along the 
small river Paillon for some distance, when it ascends a lofty 
mountain ridge winding around the Observatory, which over- 
looks the city, and passes around the fort-crested summits that 
overhang the sea and where from an elevation of some 2,000 
feet we have one of the most enchanting views in the world. 
On our right the sea, to our left and in front of us the long 
serrated snow-crested Alps. We passed numerous towns and 



NICE. 



373 



villages. One considerable town, seen in the distance, near 
the head of a rocky ravine and surrounded by high, sterile, 
rocky hills, is deserted. Many houses, with their high rock 
walls and the roofs still upon them, have no inhabitants but the 
owl and bat. No children prattle in its streets, no maidens 
visit its wells — a city of the dead, standing as a shrouded 
spectre of the night — the voiceless ghost of mediaeval times. 
How strange ! Another, an old Roman village, Ezra, on a 
high rocky peak, with three of its sides, perpendicular rock 
walls of three or four hundred feet in height, and the fourth 
hillside so nearly perpendicular that it was easily made inac- 
cessable to the assault of an enemy. Indeed, without the 
modern means of warfare, a few determined men could defend 
it against an army. During the times of the Saracens, and 
long after, even until the time of Louis XIV., it was a strong- 
hold of pirates, who from this castle issued on their marauding 
expeditions, returning with their booty to this stronghold, 
where they could defy an army. It is now a peaceful village ; 
the inhabitants subsisting on the olives and vines planted upon 
its terraced steep hillsides. A quaint old church with its curious 
old clock tower, that has battled with half a thousand years, 
attracts attention, because it looks like nothing of the present 
day. We arrived at Mentone at noon and partook of a sump- 
tuous dinner at the fine " Hotel Anglais." Mentone is a beau- 
tiful little village nestled away in a niche in the mountains, 
with a southern sea exposure, well protected from the winds, 
and is even warmer than Nice. It is handsomely built and 
planted, and has numerous fine hotels and pensions with 
handsome walks, groves and gardens, which, together with the 
numerous splendid villas that surround, and the smiling irrides- 
cent sea in front of it, constitute it a very gem in the golden 
settings of this Arcadian Rivera. 

Our return was along the sea-shore, whose babbling waters. 



374 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

in very sport, often kissed the carriage wheels, through the far- 
famed gambling halls of Monte Carlo, whose gorgeous palace 
and tables of gold constitute a gilded stairway to a yawning 
hell where thousands fall. We reached home sometime after 
night — but the warm, bright evening, rendered softer yet by 
the laughing music of the waves, gave enchantment to night. 
As we were on a gala day excursion, with our four-horse car- 
riages gaily decorated with numerous small star-spangled ban- 
ners and Yankee Doodle streamers, we produced quite a sen- 
sation. Men quit work to stare at us, while all the women 
and children along the route ran out to see the sight, all won- 
dering what could mean this new invasion of La Belle France. 

The entire day, pleasant friends, gay surroundings ; trans- 
portingly lovely scenery, strange manners and customs of the 
people we passed, with the jocund laugh of the young folks of 
our company, made this a most delightful excursion ; an 
episode long to be remembered. 

March 8th. — The Grand Carnival, which at Nice is the 
great occasion of the year, and since the Pope has been mad 
and refused to honor it with his presence, is much more pre- 
tentious here than at Rome. We had seen it at Rome along 
the Via Nazzionally on the Corso Roma, at Pisa, at Genoa 
and at Milan, where it is greater far than at Rome. We have 
in fact last winter, had carnival ad nauseam, for there never 
was anything more ridiculous, whimsical or worthless, leaving 
constantly the wonder that any but children could possibly be 
amused at it, much less to perform or pay for the farce. But 
notwithstanding these impressions, here at Nice the Carnival is 
really worth seeing and many things connected with it are 
really fine. We had secured seats at twenty francs each at 
the place du la Prefecture, where the night shows were to 
come off. It was necessary for the Carnival to have a king, 
and as the old king had been consumed in fire at the close of 



NICE. 375 

the last year's Carnival as is the custom, and his ashes con- 
taining his spirit placed in a sepulchre, it was necessary that 
he, phoenix-like, come forth from his ashes ; consequently the 
first night the magicians had been assembled in this place and 
amidst bonfires, rockets, bombs, bengal lights and peals of 
artillery. King Carnival arose in great majesty and glory, and 
sat upon his throne to preside over the Carnival. All this was 
a very tame affair, much in keeping with what we had seen in 
Italy. Two days after this, the grand Batde of Flowers came 
off on the Promenade des Anglais. This was truly fine, beauti- 
ful. Thousands of splendid equipages, beautifully ornamented 
with flowers, fresh roses, pinks, violets and anemones, and 
bright ribbons passed along the quay that was lined with mul- 
titudes, perhaps 150,000, of people. The entire length of the 
Promenade, extending from the Paillon on the east, to the 
brook Magnon on the west, was occupied by a double row of 
carriages, all decorated and filled with flowers which the occu- 
pants of the carriages threw in great quantities of bright, 
beautiful bouquets among the crowd, while tens of thousands 
of bright, fresh flowers were thrown at the inmates of the car- 
riages by their friends and others. This constituted a verit- 
able " battle of flowers," which lasted for hours, in which mil- 
lions of fresh flowers were thrown until the very air was filled 
with the odor of roses, pinks and violets, a very perfume gar- 
den. This occupied all the afternoon, and some two miles of 
the Promenade was pretty, fairy-like, beautiful. The beauty 
and loveliness of the flowers were surpassed only by the thou- 
sands of beautiful women, gaily dressed and radiant with 
smiles, brighter and lovelier far than the flowers. The Prince 
of Wales with the Princess, occupied one of the carriages, but 
thousands of gay equipages were so gorgeous, that the splen- 
dors of royalty could add nothing to them and were lost in the 
crowd. The day being bright and warm made the occasion 
the more enjoyable. 



376 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The next day was the throwing of confetta, or chalk. This 
is a chalk or white earth, so prepared as to resemble small 
peas of different colors, but when thrown, as it is, from small 
tin tubes with long elastic reed handles, a white powder. 
Every person passmg on the streets on this day must have on 
a mask or domino or get his eyes filled and clothes whit- 
ened with this powder. Thousands of pounds are thrown. 
Every person provides him or herself with a wallet, tin cup and 
supply of confetta, and no age or respectability exempts one 
from this abominable nuisance. Indeed any appearance of 
respectability only invites an additional quantity. It is a child- 
ish, foolish, ridiculous custom, and one would suppose it could 
only exist among savages in some village in Zululand, but here 
in the center of European civilation it is not only tolerated but 
enjoyed. It is, however, but doing justice to this people to say 
that it is only the common that really enjoy it, the better classes 
only sympathizing with them in their childish sport. The last 
day of the Carnival, Wednesday, was a repetition of the Battle 
of the Flowers and the grand pageant at the Place de Prefec- 
ture. This latter was very pretty, and many of the designs 
and floats were really ingenious, grand, enjoyable. This was 
followed at night by the most splendid show of all, the burning 
of King Carnival, which took place at the grand stand amidst 
the finest exhibition of fireworks in the world. We had wit- 
nessed the great display of fireworks at Wiesbaden, Germany, 
last year, in which many things were done which we would 
have thought impossible, and were impressed with the idea that 
it could not be excelled, were in fact assured that this was the 
case. But this far surpassed everything at Wiesbaden. It 
was truly beautiful, grand, imposing, indescribable, and must 
have cost many tens of thousands of francs. Amidst the glare 
of red, blue and yellow rockets, Bengal lights, Roman candles, 
immense, variously-colored fire-boquets, volleys of artillery, 



NICE. 



377 



and shouts of tens of thousands of people, in his burning pal- 
ace, that far surpassed in seeming grandeur any other palace 
ever consumed by flames, King Carnival himself, with his 
sceptre, throne and all, was consumed by brilliant jets of flame 
that seemed to come from a spirit world. His ashes will be 
preserved for another carnival, when he will again arise from 
his ashes. Really this splendid exhibition of fireworks atoned 
for all the childish foolishness of the Carnival, and fully satis- 
fied the wildest expectations, and, with the Battle of Flowers, 
it makes the Niciois carnival the principal one of Europe, a 
fact upon which the Niciois pride themselves very much and 
which brings here annually tens of thousands of people, not 
only from France and Italy but from moredistant countries. 

On Februrary the ist, with our niece, we took a long walk 
over the hills beyond Nice, where we gathered bouquets of 
bright flowers growing wild on the hillsides and saw peach 
trees and potato and pea vines in bloom ; have endeavored 
elsewhere to account for this, and yet I cannot satisfy myself 
how it can be ; I am quite sure nothing of the kind could be 
with us in St. Louis in the same temperature. 

March 12th. — A Surprise. — This being the forty-first anni- 
versary of our wedding-day, we were quite happy with the re- 
flection that we had thus far climed life's hill together and that 
although far from home and friends, with only our niece, we 
were in the enjoyment of blessings greater than had fallen to 
many that we had known, not even thinking that we had other 
friends, when, about 7 o'clock in the evening, several ladies, 
seemingly by chance, dropped in, and to our great surprise we 
were invited into our dining-room to a beautiful but simple 
supper which these kind friends had prepared for us — tea, ices, 
cakes, wine, etc. We had a most delightful evening. These 
were ladies most of whom we had known only here, and yet, 
having learned that this was our wedding anniversary, they had 



37 8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

taken all this trouble to render ns happy. How lovely I None 
but women could or would have acted thus. Of a hundred 
male friends not one perhaps would have thus acted. I am 
young; if I were old, possibly I might not think thus. To 
me the one thing pure, holy and lovely is woman. Man in his 
viler states drags humanity down, ever down, until it lays hold 
on hell — is wont to consort with devils. Woman, in her purer 
moods, exalts human nature to the very gates of. heaven; 
the angels, methinks, half fearing, half hoping, beheve she may 
break through and take Paradise bodily. Tell me not of the 
gardens of the Hesperides, whose blossoms of silver and apples 
of gold are guarded by the ever- watchful dragon. Point me 
not to the roses of Sharon or the lilies that spring eternal in 
the vale of Shinar. The loveliest tiower that ever blushed 
outside of Paradise is woman. In all the relations of life, as 
mother, wife, sister, friend, of priceless value, greater far than 
the Kooh-i-nor that glitters in the crown of England's queen, 
and her sweet, retining friendship more to be esteemed than gold, 
yea, than much fine gold. With her I had rather be stranded 
upon an iceberg drifting around the north pole than without 
her to be seated upon the banks of the river of life listening to 
the song of birds of Paradise. 

MONACO. 

Monaco is beautifully situated upon a liigh, rocky promon- 
tory, projecting into the sea, which surrounds it on three sides. 
It is the capital of the principality of Monaco, perhaps the 
smallest principality in the world- embracing, with JNIonte 
Carlo, some three or four miles square. It is a beautiful, 
well-built litde city of some two or three thousand inhabitants ; 
and the entire principality contains some 5,000 inhabitants. 

With feelings inspired by the loveliness of the place, with 
our niece. Miss Overall, we strolled over this quaint city, along 



MONACO. 379 

its neatly-paved, clean and almost deserted streets, in com- 
munion with, not the living, but the spirits of the dead ; not 
the present, but the past; for Ichabod was written on tower 
and palace. We passed out on the parapets overlooking the 
blue sea, walked through the flower beds, along graveled walks 
bordered with flowering shrubs and palms, acacias and aloes, 
enchanted with the beauty, the stillness and loveliness of the 
scene. There are few places on earth more lovely than this. 
The gardens of the Hesperides were not, perhaps, half so beau- 
tiful ; an earthly Eden that seemed an abode too fair for aught 
but disembodied spirits that fain might linger here, in no haste 
to leave it, even for a celestial paradise. 

We returned to the palace — for the little town has a palace 
— and a most beautiful one, notwithstanding the meagre dimen- 
sions of the capital and principality, and its kings possess and 
exercise all the rights, privileges and prerogatives of sovereignty 
— are kings. We were shown through the palace, the court of 
which is entered through a strong iron gate, guarded by a 
sentinel who walks his beat with his musket just as though he 
were on guard at Windsor Castle, or the Palace of Kaiser 
William. The halls contain many portraits and paintings of 
the royal family, court beauties and others, some of them of 
historic interest. The furniture is exquisite — well becoming a 
palace. We were shown one bedroom of the timeof the grand 
monarch, Louis XIV., with its quaint, rich furniture of that 
period. 

There are none of the royal family here now. The present 
king, who is old and blind, is living with some friends or rela- 
tions in the north of France; while his son, an only child, 
married the daughter of the Duke of Sutherland. His marriage 
was an unhappy one : his wife left him some time since and 
returned to England, taking with her their only child. The 
Prince, thus disappointed in life, with nothing to live for, left 



380 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

with a French expedition for the North Polar Sea, not wishing, 
perhaps, to return. Thus the palace, with its surroundings, 
has outlived its royal owners. A proud family — among the 
oldest of France — fallen to decay. 

We descended the hill, along a highly ornamented and truly 
royal road, to the lower part of the town, near the sea, and 
known as Monte Carlo — famous as being now the only public 
gambling place in Europe. The gilded palace is more sump- 
tuously furnished and its halls more gorgeously garnitured than 
those of kings. Its numerous tables, covered with gold and 
silver, occupy many rooms, and are surrounded by multitudes 
of men and women. Some of these were roulette tables ; one 
seemed to be a faro bank. x\t these tables were many matron- 
ly, pious-looking, educated women, seated with the men, bet- 
ting large sums of money. Indeed, gambling is followed here 
by men and women as a profession — a fine art — and entails 
no dishonor, especially if successful. Here, as in other places 
and in other callings, " nothing succeeds hke success." It is, 
however, with all its gilded trappings, but a gilded hell, whose 
golden gates open wide and surely upon the road to death, 
while the feet of its votaries lay hold on hell. A gaping char- 
nel house whose miry pits are filled with ghastly skeletons, and 
whose accursed altars have for incense crushed hopes, blighted 
hves, blood of suicides, tears of women, ruined families, 
anguish and remorse. These, like a shrouded pall of night, 
hang over its altars, and bide, with their spectre shrouds, its 
horrid images of death from its hapless votaries, some of whom 
daily add, by suicide, to its thousands of victims. I could but 
feel that there was a tangible spirit of evil in the very atmos- 
phere of the place, caused by the ghosts of its murdered fam- 
ilies, and was glad to regain the open air, w^here laughing 
nature, in sporting fountains and flowers, fanned by sea 
breezes, tokened nothing but kindness to man. The revenues 



CANNES. 381 

of these gambling halls here support the palace on the hill. 
The licenses from these tables constitute the revenues of the 
principality of Monaco — support the palace and royal family. 
Possibly the religious, those who believe in a moral govern- 
ment of the world, and that the wages of sin is death, even in 
the present life, may find some connection with these facts, 
and the decay and desolation of the royal family of Monaco : 
even to the philosopher the relation might suggest that of 
cause and effect. 

CANNES. 

Canes is a city of about 20,000 inhabitants, and possesses 
in a rare degree many of the advantages and beauties of the 
towns in this part of the Rivera. Like Nice it is a winter re- 
sort for the inhabitants of the more inhospitable regions of 
Northern Europe, and even more than Nice, possesses the 
favor of the aristocracy. Like all the towns of this littoral, or 
shore line, it was long subject to the Romans, and after the 
fall of Rome shared its fate in being subjected to numerous 
destructive invasions by Goths, Vandals, Saracens and Franks, 
who in turn pillaged and destroyed the city. So great was 
this destruction that as late as 1831 it contained only a few mean 
houses and 3,000 souls, mostly sailors and fishermen. It owes 
its present prosperity to the lucky accident that in 1831 Lord 
Brougham, Prime Minister of England, on his return overland 
to England from Italy, where the cholera had broken out, was 
detained here on the frontier of France by the quarantine. At 
first he was greatly provoked by this detention, which with the 
then means of overland travel was a very great inconvenience. 
He was, however, soon so won by the soft climate and beauty 
and salubrity of the place that he determined to make it his 
winter residence, and built for himself and family a villa, and 
had many of his aristocratic English friends also build villas 
here, insomuch that Cannes became the favorite winter resort 



382 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

of the English aristocracy, which it continues to be to the pres- 
ent time with ever-increasing population and wealth. The 
Prince of Wales, among others, passed several weeks of the 
present winter here, and his youngest brother. Prince Leopold, 
died here at his villa, Villa de Nevada. English money and 
taste have done much for Canes. Many of its finest villas be- 
long to English nobility or millionaires, while many of the finest 
hotels, such as the Hotel de La Grande Britaine and Hotel 
Prince de Galls, the latter the one at which the Prince of 
Wales stayed during his residence here, as w^ell as many of the 
pensions and business houses have English names, or occu- 
pants. Nothing can well surpass the beauty and splendor of 
some of these villas and gardens that dot the hillsides in and 
around Cannes. We visited the lovely villa and gardens of the 
Duke de Vallambrosia, situated on an eminence overlooking 
the Gulf de Juan. It is indeed a very paradise, all that natural 
scenery, money, taste or skill in landscape gardening could do, 
has been done to render it enchantingly lovely. Fountains 
throw up crystal jets among roses, palms, mimosas and orange 
trees, with thousands of bright flowers arranged in artistic beds 
or clusters, or climbing up the graceful palms, flash as brilliant 
settings to this Arcadian scene. Cool grottoes, beautiful graded 
walks wind amidst this semi-trophical luxuriance of trees, vines, 
shrubs and flowers. I noticed date-palms loaded with clusters 
of ripe fruit, which, with lotus and other palms, reminded one 
of the banks of the Nile. The beautiful costly cottage villa is 
in keeping with the extravagance and beauty of the grounds. 
Altogether one feels here the reality of the wonders of Arabian 
tales. Surely if there be a Paradise on earth, where mortals, 
forgetting the cares and ills of life, might revel in Elyrian 
dreams, it is here. 

Opposite the city, and some miles from the shore, rises the 
Isles des Lere?is. On the largest of these, Saint Margarite^ 



CANNES. 383 

is the oncfe strong Fort Monterey, famous in song and story as 
being long the residence of" the Man in the Iron Mask." This 
is one of the strangest and most inscrutable of the world's 
mysterious, cruel wrongs — a secret that remains and ever 
will remain a State secret. During the reign of Louis XIV., 
in 1686, a man was brought to this place with his face entirely 
concealed by an iron mask, which was never removed. He 
was never permitted to communicate with anyone but his 
keepers, who were State officers. He was of royal birth, as 
his demeanor and that of his attendants or keepers manifested. 
His plate was of solid silver and his furniture all such as be- 
tokened royalty. He remained here until his death, twelve 
years, in 1698, when his body was disposed of, as secretly as 
was kept the mystery of his life. No one knows who he 
was, from whence he came or where he was buried, or at least 
none but those who kept the secret. No public or private 
account of who or what he was, has ever been discovered, it 
was and is a State secret and doubtless one of great impor- 
tance. The most reasonable conjecture of this strange occur- 
rence, is that he was a twin brother of Louis XIV. and had 
been kept from infancy by the ministers in secret and finally 
thus disposed of to prevent rival claims to the throne. This 
fort is also famous in modern times as having been the prison 
of Marshal Bazaine, who, after the fall of Metz, was arrested 
for treason and imprisoned here from Dec. 1873, until the 
night of Aug. 9, 1874, when he made his escape, certainly 
through the connivance of his guards and the State authorities, 
as this was the best solution of the problem what to do with 
him. France overwhelmed by the disasters of their late war, 
felt the hum.iliation more keenly than any people ever had. All 
looked anxiously for some cause outside of themselves. Ba- 
zaine's misfortunes or faults pointed him as the scape-goat and 
the populace howled for his blood, while the government knew 



384 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

he could not be proven guilty of treason, yet were too weak to 
defend him, and not strong or wicked enough to murder him, 
hence his escape. 

We were shown through the now unimportant and neglected, 
but once strong Fort of Monterey, saw the room in which the 
mysterious Man in the Iron Mask was confined 200 years 
ago. It is a strong prison with a strong iron door and a suffi- 
ciently large window opening out over the sea and guarded by 
double rows of iron bars. It was a prison that utterly forbid 
any hope of escape, otherwise not gloomy. We were conducted 
to the little fortress chapel where we were shown his chair and 
some other remains of the strange mystery. All these were royal 
in style. 

It would be impossible to imagine anything more beautiful 
than this section of the sea coast, with its splendid and often 
palatial villas and gardens ; called at the Villa Nevada, where 
died the Prince Leopold. It is a lovely spot, well becoming a 
prince. He was a most estnnable young gentleman, the 
youngest son of Victoria and Prince Albert, was here on account 
of his bad health, died suddenly and while his young wife who 
was also in bad health, was absent from Cannes. His many 
excellent qualities as well as his high birth, had made him 
many friends, and much esteemed here. 

After his escape from the Island of Elba, March i, 18 15, 
Napoleon I. landed near and encamped in Cannes. A column 
marks the spot where he landed and commenced his triumph- 
ant march to Paris. All France flocked to his standard, which 
inspired Frenchmen by the remembrance of former deeds of 
glory, forgetting that this glory had cost France hundreds of 
thousands of her bravest and best men, that the " old guard " 
slept with the grand army beneath the snows of Russia. After 
a struggle of 100 days against the Holy Alliance, the world, 
his standard was shrouded in endless night, and his star went 
down at Waterloo never to rise again. 



CANNES. 385 

FROM CANNES TO MARSEILLES. 

March 2jrd. — Left Cannes for Marseilles at 10 a. m., ar- 
rived at Marseilles at 5 p. m. Most of the way is along the 
enchantingly lovely shore of the Mediterranean with its deep 
curvatures and bright Httle bays, most of which are lined by 
small towns, with numerous villas, while the entire distance 
from Mentone to Antilis is lined with olive and orange trees, 
the hillsides are covered with dark forests of oHves. At Antilis 
anciently AntipoHs, a busy seaport of 6,000 inhabitants, we 
have an extended view of the coasdine of the Rivera, as far as 
Nice and the Maritime Alps. Most of the Rivera, as far as 
Mentone, belonged to Italy until quite recently. In i860 
Napoleon III. with a well organized army marched into Italy 
to assist Victor Emanuel in driving out the Austrians. At this 
time the Austrians had possession of Northern Italy, including 
Milan, Verona and the world renowned gem of the Adriatic, 
the city of Venice. A great and decisive battle was fought 
between the French and Italians, on the one side, and the 
Austrians on the other. The Austrians were completely de- 
feated and were compelled to sign a disastrous treaty by which 
they restored to Italy all their Itahan possessions, including 
Venice, and in compensation for their services, without which 
it would have been impossible for the Italians to wrest from 
the Austrians much of the fairest portion of their country, they 
ceded to France all this lower part of the Rivera, as far as 
Mentone. 

The Austrians attributed their defeat to the use of rifle 
cannon which the French here used for the first time. They 
accounted for their fearful defeat, a short time afterwards, by 
the Germans, by the use of needle guns, which the Germans 
first used in this battle. These two battles then introduced 
the formidable weapons of modern warfare — rifle-cannon and 
breech-loading rifles. 



386 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

This entire coast from San Raphael is blighted by, cursed 
with, the great Mestral, a cold northwest wind, which blows 
with great violence and so continuously that the trees and 
shrubbery and grass are bent toward the southeast, and so chills 
this entire region as to produce a marked sterility, driving all 
foreigners from its inhospitable shores. Even the natives, who 
can, gladly tiee to other sections," and those who remain have 
the forlorn appearance of a chronic chill. Ninety miles out 
from Cannes we reach Toulon, the war harbor of France, an 
important town of 80.000 inhabitants stroflgly fortified, every 
high hill or rocky eminence for miles around being crowned by 
strong forts. It was taken in 1793 ^Y ^^^^ English fleet under 
Admiral Hood, and was retaken a few months afterwards by 
the French under the artillery command of the then unknown 
young artillery officer, Napoleon Bonaparte. It is an unpre- 
possessing place, cursed by the Mestral, and the brightest page 
in its history is that its possession by the English who defended 
it with their usual bravery, afforded an opportunity for the dis- 
play of the then unknown abilities of Napoleon Bonaparte, at 
the time twenty-four years of age and artillery Lieutenant, and 
who instead of planting his ardllery at the distance of a mile 
or more from the walls of the city, as was then the custom, 
ordered his siege guns up to within 200 yards of the wall, 
where he soon produced a breach, and leading the assault in 
person, he stormed and took the city, British valor being of no 
avail against this young lieutenant, who gave in the conduct 
of this siege and storming of Toulon, the sign and promise of 
the future emperor of the French, the modern Cambyses whose 
all-conquering car was to roll over Europe, crushing kings and 
emperors under its resistless, merciless wheels. 

MARSEILLES. 
Marseilles, 140 miles from Nice, is the third most populous 



MARSEILLES. 387 

city, 319,000 inhabitants, and the second in commercial im- 
portance in France, and is to French commerce on and beyond 
the Mediterranean, what Havre is to the commerce of the 
Atlantic. We put up at the very excellent Hotel Louvre. 
The city is one of the oldest and most historical of all those of 
the Rivera, was founded by the Greeks from Phoenicia B. C. 
600, or only 150 years after the founding of Rome. From 
Marseilles was founded numerous Greek cities along the Litto- 
ral as far as Nice, all these mamlained the Greek language 
and culture down to the Christian era, when like all the other, 
with Greece itself, it fell under the power of Rome and became 
a part of the Roman Empire. 

To the tourist Marseilles possesses but little interest. Most 
of the streets are narrow and the houses high and crowded 
together, much resembling Naples, which city it rivals m filthi- 
ness, and like Naples, pays for its utter disregard of all sanitary 
precautions by frequent irruptions of cholera. Last year and 
the year before, it, together with Toulon, was scourged with 
this plague, and as its filthy condition invites cholera, it is 
most likely it will be visited again the coming season. 

We drove up the lofty hill to the foot of the long line of 
wide stone steps that ascend to Notre Dame, which stands 
upon a lofty, rocky eminence, overlooking the entire city and 
adjacent country. From here we had a fine view of the city 
and harbor almost immediately under us, also the adjoining 
rocky islands, upon all of which, as well as the adjacent hill 
are strong forts, bristling with cannon of immense calibre, 
including the Chateau, where Mirabeau was confined and which 
figures conspicuously in Dumas' Counte of Moiite Christo. 

This fine church, Notre Dame, (our lady) with its lofty 
tower crowned by a not very artistic colossal al bronze statue of 
the Virgin, holding the Infant in her arms, was built in i860, 
and like the Temple of Diana Ephesus, it contains numerous 



388 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

votive offerings, the gifts of sea-faring men whom she saved 
from the dangers of the sea. 

AVIGNON. 

March 24th. — Left Marseilles at 2 p. m. for Avignon, where 
we arrived at 5 p. m. The route is uninviting, passing through 
a country more sterile than the desert plains of Colorado, we 
passed through several tunnels, one of which is three and a 
half miles long. The sterility of this country is quite remark- 
able, as the road passes over a level country, most of the way 
in the valley of the Rhone. Fifty-three miles out from Mar- 
seilles we pass through the once important commercial city of 
Aries, now a decayed, delapidated place of 25,000 inhabitants. 
Twenty-one miles farther on we arrived at the far famed histori- 
cal town, the former residence of the French popes, Avignon. 

Avignon was the residence of the Pope from 1309 to 1377. 
During this period of sixty-eight years Avignon had seven 
popes, the last of whom Gregory XI. transferred the See back 
to Rome. The city, however, continued under pontifical rule 
until 1 7 91 when it was transferred to France. During this time 
the population had sunk from 80,000 to 17,000 inhabitants. 
The old city walls constructed in 1350 and which constituted 
an admirable defence during the reign of the popes, and 
through the middle ages, are in a good state of preservation, 
having been wisely preserved, reminding us much of the old 
German city of Nuremburg. The town is on the left bank of 
the Rhone, here a navigable but rapid river. It is connected 
with the opposite bank by a new and very fine suspension 
bridge. The old cathedral is adjoining the papal palace, which 
is an immense fortress structure erected in 1300, massive and 
constructed to withstand a seige. It is situated on a lofty 
summit with a perpendicular precipice on one side and the 
city wall next the river, of course it is not as large or fine as 
the Pope's Palace, the Vatican at Rome, and yet we may well 



AVIGNON. 389 

suppose was adequate to acccommodate His Holiness and all 
his Cardinals and retainers : at present it is used for barracks, 
and so vast is it, that it contains sleeping, dining and hospital 
rooms, etc., etc., for 2,000 soldiers. We passed through its 
long corridors, great rooms and chapel. The rooms contain 
on their walls many frescoes of madonnas, apostles and saints, 
all of an early period, all faded, and present but little of inter- 
est. The whole building presents- a gloomy fortress-like ap- 
pearance. Behind the palace and still higher up the hill are 
beautiful gardens, from which we have an extensive view of 
the adjacent country — the Rhone and a long silver line the 
Durance, which enters the Rhone a short distance below the 
town. An old, so-called Roman bridge spans the Rhone from 
the city walls at the Papal Palace to within a short distance of 
the opposite bank, the last two spans being wanting. The 
portion standing is in a good state of preservation and the en- 
tire structure might be easily repaired, were it necessary. 
Local tradition and guide books inform us that this bridge was 
built by the Romans some 1800 or 2000 years ago, but on 
noting the arches, four or five of which are still standing, it 
readily appears that they are not the round Roman arch, but 
pointed Gothic arches, which dissipates this fable, and shows 
the bridge to have been built, at a period, most likely not 
earlier than the tenth or twelfth century. Indeed it is most 
likely this bridge was built by Clement VII. or his immediate 
successor in the fourteenth century. In front of the theatre are 
statues of Racine and Moliere. Medaihons represent John 
XXII. and Petrarch. The great Italian poet, Petrarch, when 
quite a young man visited Avignon, where he saw and fell des- 
perately, strangely, poetically and lastingly in love with a beau- 
tiful young French woman, with whom he never became ac- 
quainted nor revealed his consuming love. She married un- 
fortunately, and many years after died, the mother of many 



390 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

children and bowed down with domestic affliction. Petrarch 
long reverenced her, but neither before her marriage nor after, 
ever received the slightest token of her attachment — indeed 
there is no evidence that she was even aware of it — and yet 
she was through his long life, even to old age, constantly pres- 
ent in his thoughts, in his affection ; the constant image of his 
life-long worship, and the unconscious inspirer of many of his 
most beautiful songs and sonnets. This ideal love of the 
great poet for the idol of his affections ; this beautiful, but 
stranger young woman is one of the most strange and touch- 
ing of all love's strange romances. How different might have 
been the fortunes of this beautiful young woman — then only 
eighteen }*ears of age as well as that of the poet, had he declared 
his passion. All the world has painfully regretted that a love so 
pure, so ardent, so lasting had not redeemed the sweet object of it 
from the cold hard fate of her life. This sweet, but sad re- 
membrance of Petrarch constantly breathed forth in sweetest 
song, fills Avignon with sweetest recollections, and will live as 
long as may stand its massive Papal Palace. At Verona we 
visited, as have tens of thousands of tourists, the tomb of Juliet, 
made immortal by the genius of Shakespear in his Romeo and 
Juliet, a sweet recital of love that will outlive monuments of 
brass or marble, and yet all its incidents are less tender, less 
emotional than the ' strange, poetical love of Petrarch. We 
painfully regretted that the tomb of Petrarch's Laura had been 
destroyed. Her monument stands behind the museum build- 
ings. We walked around one-third of the old city wall, be- 
ginning at the Old Roman Bridge, quite to the railroad depot. 
It is wonderful how well this wall has been preserved — indeed 
it looks as though it might have been built within the preseet 
century, and yet it is five or six hundred years old. It is fifteen 
or twenty feet high, flanked by lofty towers at every two or 
three hundred yards. The port-holes are for crossbow and 



PARIS. 391 

arrows, these being, at the time this wall was built, the most 
effective defensive weapons, and with these walls were a strong 
defence. 

PARIS. 
March 28th. — Paris is, next to London, the largest city in 
the world, having a population of 2,500,000, and is altogether 
the most beautiful city in the world. All that art, that the 
most exquisite and cultivated taste, all that imperial pride 
could do to improve a situation naturally most beautiful, has 
been done, with the result of rendering this the fairest, the 
most enchantingly beautiful city on earth ; forming, with its 
costly palaces, churches, public buildings, museums of art, its 
wide streets beautifully paved and artistically planted with 
trees, with its unequaled gardens, a habitation worthy of the 
gods, a very garden of Paradise, where wealth and culture 
have united in rendering its citizens, naturally polite, the most 
refined, polite and agreeable of all the inhabitants of earth. 
Indeed, society here, has doubtless in its culture and refine- 
ment, attained the ultima thule of human capability, and 
justly constitutes these people the arbitors of fashion for the 
world. A natural delicacy of taste, cultivated with ardor for 
centuries, has rendered these Parisian women the models of 
taste, as they are in personal beauty. The human form divine 
has here attained its highest perfection and loveliness, capti- 
vating us not more by their great beauty than by the softness 
of their manners and the faultless, unequaled taste in their 
attire. In a Parisian lady's dress there is no incongruous 
mixing of colors, no misfits, but each color, each bow and 
ribbon is so blended, so placed as to produce the finest effect, 
rendering the most beautiful forms and faces still more attract- 
ive, until each and every French woman walks, indeed a god- 
dess, and looks the queen, a beauty and loveliness that scarce 
can fail to win our love and admiration. 



392 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The city covers an area of thirty square miles, divided into 
twenty wards. There are a number of large and beautifully 
ornamented parks within and immediately adjoining the city. 
The largest of these, the Bois de Bologne, 2,250 acres. In it 
are the race course and the Jardin d' Acclimation, which latter 
contains an almost infinite quantity and variety of animals, 
birds and plants, all of which are being taught, if not the 
French language, at least the climatic conditions of La Belle 
France. The Boulevard de Bologne, leading from the Arc 
de Triumphe to this park is 400 feet wide with quadruple 
rows of trees, a wide graveled way on either side for foot pas- 
sengers. Within this and separated from it by rows of beau- 
tiful trees, is a wide Rotten Row for horses, with an open cen- 
tral space 200 feet wide for carriages. Of course this is the 
fashionable drive of the city, and on pleasant evenings tens of 
thousands of gay equipages crowd it through its entire length 
of two miles. So great is its width thai it permits two rows of 
carriages, an outgoing and return row of eight carriages each, 
or sixteen carriages abreast, and yet so multitudinous are the 
vehicles found upon it that we were caught one evening m a 
carriage blockade sixteen carriages deep or wide, and extend- 
ing from the entrance into the park to the Arc de Triumphe, 
so multitudinous are the pleasure vehicles of this gay city of 
two and a half millions of people, a number equal to the whole 
population of the State of Missouri. Besides these carriages 
filled with the ehte of the city, the sidewalks of the boulevard 
were crowded with curious spectators. 

In addition to its large parks there are forty open squares, 
beautifully ornamented with booths, trees and flowers. Many 
of the most popular boulevards within the most populous and 
finely built parts of the city are 200 feet wide, with double 
rows of trees. The most beautiful one of these, and indeed 
by far the most beautiful boulevard on earth, is the Avenue 



PARIS. 393 

des Champs Elysees, which commences at the Arc deTriumphe 
and terminates at the Place de la Concorde, or at the Jardin 
de Tmlleries, near two miles in length. The lower half mile, or 
that next the Place de la Concorde, opens out into an ex- 
tended, beautifully-planted forest and flower-garden, with wide 
graveled walks shaded by flowering trees, and bordered with 
flower-beds, with multitudes of gay booths, while numerous 
benches and chairs invite tired nature to linger yet another 
hour in this, the Jardin de Champs Elysees, the tessalated 
border of Elyseum, where in the very heart and 'centre of a 
great city, surrounded by the palaces of kings and emperors, 
and in the midst of a gay multitude, with splendidly orna- 
mented fountains, throwing up their crystal streams, that flash 
as dazzling diamonds in the sunlight by day, and in the light 
of ten thousand gas jets by night, render this perhaps the most 
enchantingly lovely spot on earth — -a very type of the ambro- 
sial plains of Paradise. Beyond the Arc de Triumphe it is 
continued as the Avenue de Grande Armie, of equal width and 
of much the same beauty. At this point of divergence, on a 
commanding eminence, rises the Arc deTriumphe, surrounded 
by a circular vacant space some 300 yards in diameter. This 
space is named the Place de Etoile, or star, so called from the 
fact that from this point, surrounding the Arc de Triumphe, 
twelve wide avenues radiate like the spokes from the hub of a 
wheel or rays from a star. 

The Arc de Triu7nphe, a triumphal arch, erected by Napo- 
leon I., is the largest structure of the kind in the world. It 
consists of an immense arch sixty-seven feet high, with a trans- 
verse arch of the same height, the whole structure is 1 60 feet 
high, 146 feet in length and width ; an immense structure, so 
large that it does not appear high, and so high that it scarce- 
ly appears large; so admirably is it proportioned, that forgetful 
of its immense size, we only think of the harmony of all its 



394 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



parts, blending in a beauty unsurpassed, unequaled by any 
like structure of modem times. From its lofty summit we have 
a commanding view of tlie City of Paris with its environs, even 
beyond the forts that cover the distant eminences around the 
city. It is ascended by a spiral staircase, within the structure, 
of 262 steps. All sides are beautifully ornamented with both 
has and alto reliefs, of the battles of Napoleon I., while on the 
inner sides of the columns are engraved the names of 142 
victories, constituting it a wonderful monument of French 
valor and glory. 

The churches of Paris while of great size and beauty, fail to 
interest us as do the churches of Italy or even London. This 
is in part because most of the fine paintings, frescoes and 
statues, of which they were once possessed, have been destroyed 
by the vandalism of her mobs, communes, during the revolu- 
tions of 1792-3 and that of 187 1, when most of the churches 
were despoiled of much or all that was most sacred or inter- 
esting, and converted into other and often unholy uses, and 
then there are but few of the churches now in Paris that are 
really old or hallowed by world memories. To this, however, 
Notre Dame offers a notable exception, both in its historical 
associations, which will live in the world's history as long as 
Paris itself shall stand, and in its venerable age which counts 
its centuries by more than half a thousand years. 

This structure was first erected in the twelfth century, but 
has been subjected to so many repairs that but little of the old 
church remains as at first. It is situated in a low, fiat district, 
on an island in the Seine, and fails to impress us as it would 
do were it more favorably situated. In 1793 its sculptures 
and paintings were destroyed and the church consecrated to 
the worship of heathen gods, or even less worthy objects. The 
image of the virgin was supplanted by the goddess of reason, 
and in the place of devout nuns, young women danseuses. 



PARIS. 395 

demi-mondes, clothed in white garments and bearing torches, 
held orgies here, to the scandal of human reason, whose goddess 
they professed to worship, and of decency. 

The facade dates back to the thirteenth century and is rather 
pretty. The church has a wide nave and two aisles divided 
by lofty columns supporting pointed or gothic arches. The 
nave is 417 feet long by 156 feet wide with a single transept 
near the High Altar, giving it the- form of a Latin cross. In 
the Treasury we were shown some valuable relics that had 
survived the ravages of mobs and the tooth of time, among 
these were the relics of Napoleon I. and Charlemagne, also 
their crowns, together with some costly gifts of former kings, 
and the Virgin and Child in silver, given by Charles X., also the 
bloody robes in which the bishop of Paris was shot, murdered 
by the blood thirsty communes in 187 1. 

One of the wide avenues radiating from the Arc de Triumphe 
leads to the Palace du Trochadero, situated on an eminence 
near to and overlooking the Seine. The building consists of a 
circular central portion 189 feet in diameter and 180 feet high 
with semi-circular wings on either side 540 feet long. The 
towers are 300 feet high, beautiful gardens extend down to 
the river. The building is used as a museum and contains a 
great number of plaster casts and sculptures from the portals 
and foundations of churches and other buildings of the eleventh, 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, together with many statues 
from France and Italy, all, however, of no great merit as works 
of art, but so arranged as to give a chronological history of the 
sculpture of the middle ages. It also contains an ethnological 
museum with many objects of interest from Oceanica. The 
great miisic hall has a fine organ and seats 6,000 persons. 
The view from the tower 500 feet above the river is the finest 
in Paris. Indeed from the top of this tower, which we reach 
by an elevator of singular construction, Paris is spread out as 



396 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

upon a map at our feet. During one of our visits to this 
palace, a Fair for charitable purposes was being held in booths 
on the covered piazzas of the wings of the building. All the 
booths were attended by beautiful young French women 
dressed in the peasant costume of the different provinces. The 
whole scene, booths, wares, and persons, was beaudful and very 
Frenchy. 

April i6th. — Visited the Hotel and Musee de Cluney which 
occupies the site, and consists in part of the old Roman Fort 
constructed by Constantine in the third century, and where 
Julian the apostate was declared Emperor by his soldiers in 306. 
Much of it is still as Juhan left it. It was long the residence 
of the early Frank kings. In the nineteenth century the 
Benedictine Monks built the present Hotel de Cluny on, and 
embracing the old Roman palace. Soon after its completion 
it was occupied by Mary, sister of Henry VIII. of England, 
and widow of Louis XIL of France. Her apartments are stili 
shown and are called La Chambre de la Riene Blanche — The 
rooms of the WJiite Queen. The museum contains a most 
valuable, interesting and instructive collection of objects of 
prehistoric and mediaeval ages, in all 10,000 objects, weapons, 
tools, instruments, in flint and bone, found in caves and in 
lacustrine deposits. These last of course carry us back to 
prehistoric times when man had for cotemporaries in France 
the cave bear and reindeer, very possibly extending back into 
the dim, misty past, thousands or tens of thousands of years 
before the building of the pyramids of Cheops. Other rooms 
contain Flemish tapestries of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries, remains of bishops' robes of the twelfth century, 
splendid, gaudily decorated carriages of the sixteenth century, 
handsome cabinets of kings and queens, potery and fayence 
wares of the the twelfth to the fifthteenth centuries, works in 
enamel and ivory, with shoes of different nations of the 



PARIS. 



397 



fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, Limoges vases of the 
twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, small wooden images rep- 
resenting French kings from Clovis to Louis XIII., with many 
other things, giving other ages so perfect, that we seem to be 
living in their midst. 

From the Cluney we visited the Pantheon, which is upon the 
highest point on this the left bank of the Seine, and occupies 
the spot where was formerly the tomb of St. Genevieve the 
patron saint of Paris. It was built as a church in 1770. In 
1793 the Communes converted it into a Memorial Temple 
which they named Pantheon, and inscribed upon the facade in 
large stone letters, " aitx grande homines la patrie reconnous,'''' 
which was removed, but again restored in 1830. The entire 
structure is well fitted for the purposes for which the Com- 
munes dedicated it, as it looks much more like a heathen 
temple than a Christian church. 

The Palace du Luxembourg is an old structure of much 
beauty. It was erected by Maria de Medici in 161 5, and was 
built upon the site of the old Hotel du Luxembourg. It is said 
to resemble the Pitti Palace at Florence, Italy, but we failed to 
see the resemblance, as this is a really handsome structure, 
while the palace Pitti is the least so of any building of like pre- 
tensions we have seen. During the revolution of i79i-'95 it 
was used as a prison in which were confined many of the most 
distinguished persons of France, among them Beauharnais and 
his wife Josephine, afterwards wife of Napoleon and empress 
of France, Danton and Robespierre. During Napoleon's time 
it was used by the Senate. It is now the Senate House. It 
contains many fine rooms in which are State paintings, frescoes, 
etc. To accommodate the large collection of statues and 
])aintings by modern artists a large hall has been built, called 
the Musee. In this hall are placed all the works of living art- 
ists that have been adjudged by the Committee of the Palace 



398 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

rindustrie as worthy of the prize and not sold by the artist or 
bought by the State. They remain here subjected to public 
opinion until 10 years after the death of the artist, when, if still 
approved as works of real artistic merit, .they are removed to 
the Louvre, by which act the author is supposed to have 
received the highest honor in the gift of fame. The most 
beautiful of all these paintings, we thought, were two by Bou- 
gero, The Consolation of the Virgin and The Naissance of 
Venus. 

Visited the Palace du Champs Ely sees. 2,488 paintings by 
living artists are on exhibition in its halls, besides more than a 
thousand designs, cartoons, etc., and 1,200 sculptures, and 
nearly a thousand engravings, forming a collection of great 
works by Hving artists nowhere else to be met with. Here 
again, as at the Luxembourg, the best, we thought, were by 
Bougero. There is also some very excellent statuary by living 
artists. 

Visited the Jardin des Plantes, to reach which from where 
we live, near the Arc de Triomphe, we take steamer at the 
Ponte I'Alma and run up the Seine four miles, passing, in this 
distance under fifteen splendid bridges which connect the dif- 
ferent darts of the city situated on either side of the Seine. 

Passed on our way the historic Isle de Citie, upon which 
are several costly and beautiful buildings, among them the 
Hospital Dieu and the Cathedral Notre Dame. The steam- 
boat fare for this entire trip is only 10 centimes — two cents. 

The Gardens, consisting of a museum, menagerie and bot- 
anical garden, contains 75 acres. The botanical garden is 
beautifully laid out in small beds artistically bordered. The 
medicinal quality of the plants are designated by labels or 
cards of different colors, which also contain the botanical name 
of the plant. Almost every known medicinal plant is found 
here. It would be impossible to find elsewhere so fine a field 



PARIS. 



399 



for the study of botany as we have here. The gardens are 
traversed by numerous wide gravel walks, shaded by beauti- 
fully trimmed trees. Besides the botanical gardens in the 
open air there are numerous hot-houses containing almost 
every known tropical plant and flower. The extensive menag- 
erie contains a great variety of animals— elephants, rhinoceros- 
es, Hons, tigers, hyenas, bears, wolves, foxes, seals, sea-lions, 
deer, antelopes, Buffaloes, monkeys, swans, geese, cranes, 
eagles, vultures, pheasants, etc. At the far end of the grounds 
are extensive buildings containing the most extensive and 
complete natural history collection in the world, containing 
200,000 specimens. The rooms containing the anthropoid and 
anthropological collections embrace lemurs, monkeys, ourang- 
outangs, gorillas, skeletons, male and female, of men, skeletons 
and crania, casts, portaits, paintings, photographs, busts, mum- 
mies and fossils of every nation, kindred, tongue and people 
on earth. Nothing can excel the perfection and beauty of this 
collection, containing, among others, the fine collection of 
skulls of the great phrenologist, Gall. We were much interest- 
ed in the skeleton of the fanatical Solomon Hobbea, the assas- 
sin of the French general Blake in Egypt. We were quite 
certain that in the small, unsymmetrical head we could readily 
read the want of all moral instinct. Such a head, while it 
might make a fanatic, could never evolve the higher virtues. 

THE LOUVRE. 

The Palace of the Louvre, both on account of its great size 
and beauty and of the almost unrivaled treasures of art which 
it contains, will long remain the centre of attraction to persons 
visiting Paris. Commenced in 1541 by the splendor-loving 
Francis I., it has been extended and adorned by almost every 
subsequent ruler. It now constitutes, with the possible excep- 
tion of the Popes' palace, the Vatican, in Rome, the largest 
and finest palace in the world. To form an estimate of its 



400 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

beauty it must be seen. Some idea of its vast proportion may 
be formed from the statement that the palace, with its enclosed 
court, covers 44 acres of ground, and to walk through its 
rooms without stopping to notice anything requires two hours 
— eight miles of rooms. The greater portion of this immense 
and splendid palace is now occupied by works of art, which in 
incredible quantities have been collected here by French mon- 
archs since the time of Francis I. During the reign of Napo- 
leon I., the spoils of Europe were collected here, constituting 
the Louvre galleries the most important in the world. Among 
these we may mention Potter's Bull; from the Hague, Raphael's 
Transfiguration, from the Vatican ; and the Bronze Horses, 
from St. Mark's, Venice. We saw in the palace galleries of 
Italy many other great works that Napoleon had at one time 
carried off to the Louvre. All the most valuable of these 
works were returned after the downfall of Napoleon and yet 
the Louvre remains even now, in many respects, the most im- 
portant art collection in Europe. 

In its picture galleries all the schools are represented, and 
all the great masters have here, if not their greatest works, at 
least some works that are great. Raphael is represented here 
in five or six masterpieces, among them St. Michael, St. 
George and the Dragon, the great Holy Family and the La 
Belle Jardiniere, while most of the extant finished works of the 
most remarkable genius of his age and perhaps the greatest 
painter of any age, Leonardo da Vinci, are found in this gallery, 
chief among them his Madonna and Infant Christ with St. 
Anne, which if not the gem of the gallery is one of these. 
This immortal genius, Leonardo, who painted here during his 
last years, left but few finished works, because, while he readi- 
ly satisfied all others, he could never please himself. His 
mighty conceptions of what a work ought to be were such as 
no human hand could accomplish. 



PARIS. 401 

The Spanish school is ably represented by its two greatest 
masters, Velasquez and Murillo. The Immaculate Concep- 
tion, by the latter, is one of the master's greatest works. The 
Flemish and Dutch schools are fully represented in works by 
Rembrandt, Rubens, Dore, Van Dyck, Terberg and others. 
The French School is represented by numerous pieces by Ver- 
net, Lesseur, Pyussin, Claude Lorrain, and many others. The 
EngHsh school by Constable, Lawrence, and others. 

It would be idle to attempt an enumeration of even the 
best of the 2,000 paintings by the great masters, that adorn 
these galleries. Miles of wall are covered by them, and all 
placed at the disposal of students, who study and copy without 
let or hindrance. And all this vast art collection is open to 
the public, native or foreign, without money and without price. 
Every day in the week, Monday excepted, these galleries are 
open free from morning until night. 

The Egyptian Museum is perhaps the most complete of any 
in Europe, but our remarks on this department in the British 
Museum, prevent the necessity of our more than referring to 
this. Let no visitor to the Louvre fail to visit it. 

The rooms of ancient sculpture contain a most valuable 
collection of Greek and Roman statues, busts, friezes, etc. 
The gem of this collection, and, indeed, in the opinion of many, 
the glory of the Louvre, is the Venus de Milo, which is thought 
by many able judges to be the finest piece of ancient sculpture 
that has come down to us, and the most beautiful marble rep- 
resentation of the human form divine that is now in the world. 
Having seen and studied the Capitoline Venus at Rome and 
the Venus de Medici at Florence, I felt some anxiety to know 
what impressions this wonderful work, about which I had heard 
and read so much, would make upon me. It was, therefore, 
with feelings not unmixed with anxiety and doubt that I visited 
the room dedicated to this Aphrodite, whose only rival by 



402 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

common consent is the Venus Medici. On account of the loss 
of both arms, which are broken off near the shoulders, the 
statue is not at first sight, as imposingly, impressively beautiful 
as it otherwise would be, and I felt disappointed. Somehow 
the statue though surpassmgly beautiful in many respects, 
failed to impress me as favorably as it had others. But after 
visiting it many times and studying it much and from diflerent 
points in the room, I found its beauties growing upon me un- 
til I became as much captivated by its wondrous perfectron 
and beauty, as had been my niece and others. 

I am now satisfied that the unfavorable impressions I had 
at first seeing it were the result of its mutilation in the broken 
arms and would advise others who may not be favorably 
impressed at first view, to visit it again and again, until the 
broken arms no longer appear as defects. 

Like but one other work of the kind in the world, Raphael's 
Cistine Madonna at Dresden, we have here the most faultless, 
beautiful woman, in all the perfection and loveliness of woman, 
with the presence — the admixture of something more than the 
human, the divine. In both this statue and in Raphael's paint- 
ing, the divine is as apparent as the human, both are unmis- 
takably goddess as well as woman. Now what to me is the 
strangest part of all this, is that while we may know the most 
perfect type of female beauty, we positively know nothing of 
either the beauty or ugliness of a goddess, know the human, 
but are utterly ignorant of the divine, and yet we readily rec- 
ognize in both of these great works that which we cannot 
recognize, the divine in the human. 

This beautiful statue was found in the island of Milos — 
Milo. It is the work of Praxiteles or Scopos, of the school of 
Phidias, about the time of Alexander the Great. Among per- 
haps the best modern statues in the Louvre Museum, are a 
Cupid and Psyche by Canova. 



VERSAILLES. 403 

VERSAILLES. 

May yth. — Visited this interesting place, with its costly 
palace, gardens and fountains so intimately associated with the 
Grande Monarche, Louis XIV., his son, Louis XV., and grand- 
son, Louis XVL, and the beautiful, lovely, but unfortunate, 
queen, Marie Antoinette. It is situated ten miles from Paris 
and has 50,000 inhabitants. Louis XIV, who resided here, 
embellished it at a fabulous expense which severely taxed the 
resources of the nation. He is said to have expended the 
almost mcredible sum of $250,000,000 in building the. palace 
and ornamenting the grounds. The sumptuous palace, although 
among the finest in the world, lacks uniformity of plan, and is 
not as imposing as it should be, considering its great cost. The 
gardens were laid out by the world renowned landscape 
gardener, Lenotre. Its beautiful fountains, the water to 
supply which was brought from a great distance and at a fabu- 
lous cost, were long considered among the wonders of the 
world, while its extensive planted forests, long avenues, lakes, 
statues, etc., by absorbing their wealth and forcing the levying 
and collection of unjust and onerous taxes, impoverished the 
nation, led to that financial embarrassment and general dis- 
tress which a few years later with more than cyclonic fury 
overthrew the French monarchy and deluged the land in blood. 

The day of our visit was characteristic of the month of 
flowers, clothed in perfumed robes and fanned by the balmy 
breath of May. A cloudless sky and the air perfumed by forests 
of flowers enhanced the loveliness of the beautiful garden 
country over which we passed. On arriving at the Versailles 
depot we took carriage and drove to the palace, where we 
spent most of the day in threading its numerous rooms and 
great halls, walking five miles through rows of historical paint- 
ings, frescoes and sculptures. Many of the best of these paint- 
ings are by the greatest of French painters, Horace Vernet. 



404 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

The enchantment produced in viewing these gorgeously dec- 
orated rooms, still retaining much of the antique and costly- 
garniture of the times of the Grande Monarche and Louis 
XVI. and his queen Marie Antoinette, is greatly intensified by 
the speaking presence of their yet living history, stereotyped 
by the finger of time in ineffaceable characters upon their 
every wall and floor and ceiling. 

We first enter the chapel, a large and costly ornamented 
room, richly adorned with sculptures and paintings, from this 
we pass into the galleries of historical paintings, containing 
11,200 pieces, among them Charlemagne Submitting His Laws 
to the French, A. D. 779,by Delaroche ; Charlemagne Crossing 
the Alps with His Army, A. D. 773, by Rouget. Saint Louis 
Mediating Between the English King and His Barons. But it 
would be idle to attempt either an enumeration or description 
of these thousands of fine historical paintings which form more 
than a mile of paintings lining these eleven rooms. Leaving 
these great rooms, we mounted a lofty flight of marble steps, 
some twenty feet wide, to the second floor, where after ex- 
amining bust-portraits of most of France's great men, kings, 
generals, statesmen, poets, orators, writers and philosophers, 
we passed into the splendid room containing paintings of 
Louis XIV., XV. and XVI., together with nearly all the great 
battles of Napoleon, the Coronation of Josephine, with what to 
us was of yet more interest, a fine painting of the Taking of 
Yorktown, in America, containing fine portraits of well-known 
persons, Washington, LaFayette, etc. From here we passed 
into the bedrooms of Louis XIV .-XVI. and Marie Antoinette, 
in this we had pointed out the small, narrow stairway down 
which she, with her children, in terror fled, on that fearful 
night when the murderous mob, or patriots, broke into and 
sacked the palace, overthrew the monarchy, and shook the 
world by their mighty deeds. Adjoining this is the long. 



VERSAILLES. 405 

gorgeously-decorated ball-room in which was held a sumptuous 
georgeously-extravagant ball, at which were Louis XVI. and 
Marie Antoinette, with hundreds of gay cavahers, lords and ladies 
and court beauties, representing the chivalry and beauty of 
France, only a few nights before the fatal irruption of the blood- 
thirsty mob, with the fearful cry of down with the monarchy, the 
aristocracy and priesthood. At this fatal ball, while dancing to 
the tune of soul-stirring music and intoxicated by the splendors 
of a court that had impoverished the people and oblivious to 
the distant bowlings of the infuriated, starving masses, whose 
cry was " Bread or Blood," some one more thoughtful than 
his comrades paused to remark that they were " dancing over 
a volcano," but so blinded were the royal family by the false 
glory that surrounded them that they heeded not this fearful 
warning, but danced on. Alas ! it was their last ball, the angry 
volcano, whose deep-toned bellowings might have been heard 
above the music of the ball, and whose vibrations were shaking 
France to its centre, burst only a few days after, with a 
cyclonic fury that not only des-troyed the monarchy and 
deluged France in blood, but overthrew most of the thrones of 
Europe, broke up the foundations of the great deep and turned 
night and chaos loose to revel in hideous slaughter, until, glutted 
with the blood of its victims, it died of very repletion. 
Only a few days after this ball, Louis XVI. and Marie 
Antoinette were dragged from this splendid royal room, hur- 
ried by the mob to Paris, thrown into the Bastile, from the 
Bastile to the Guillotine, where their severed heads became 
the sport of a deeply-wronged people, who, in the blood of 
royalty blotted out the idea, at least in France, that there is a 
" divinity that doth hedge about a king," taught the world that 
not a king, but man alone, is divine. 

A great many souvenirs of royalty are yet in these rooms. 
The death-bed-chamber, with its bed and furnishing of Louis 



4o6 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

XIV., are much as he left them 300 years ago — numerous 
cabinets, marble tables, costly vases, mirrors, clocks, etc., of 
Marie Antoinette, Napolion, and other kings, queens and rulers 
of France. Leaving the palace we visited the gardens, the beauty 
of which in landscape gardening was never surpassed. Rows 
of beautifully trimmed box or cedar line the walks and squares 
with sculptures, lakes, fountains, flower-beds and avenues. We 
walked for an hour among these beautifully planned and planted 
palace gardens, when we took carriage and drove out a mile 
tlirough a wondrously beautiful park through an avenue shad- 
ed by old lindens, to the grand Trianon, a handsome palatial 
villa of one story in height. We were shown through the 
rooms containing many souvenirs of foruier kings, queens and 
emperors, costly Sevres vases. Malachite vases and tables given 
to Napoleon by Alexander, Czar of Russia, the finely furn- 
ished room fitted up by Napoleon III. for Queen Victoria, on 
her visit to France. Victoria, however, for some cause, did not 
stay here. The finely furnished bed, as also much of the furni- 
ture remain-! much as it was prepared for her Majesty. It well 
represents the pomp and vanity of emperors in its costly fit- 
tings, which, of course, cost Napoleon nothing but the French 
people much. We were shown through the carriage house 
containing the most splendid carriages in the world, including 
the carriage of Napoleon L, that of the Prince Imperial, son of 
Napolean III. and Eugenie. Also the state carriage sent for 
Queen Victoria, together with many suits of splendid harness 
from the time of Louis XVI. to Napolean III., sleighs, Sedan 
chairs, etc. Went from here to the Petite Trianon, erected by 
Louis XVI., for one of his favorites, Madam Pompadour, and 
afterwards a favorite resort of the lovely, but unfortunate, queen 
of Louis XVI., which contains many costly baubles belonging to 
her and other queens. 

These costly and splendid baubles, that have outlived the 



PARIS. 407 

the dynasty that impoverished the people, were first commenced 
by the splendor-loving, airt-fostering Francis I. and were con- 
tinued by the Grand Monarch, Louis XIV., who was not grand 
but, living in the halcyon days of the French monarchy, flatter- 
ed himself and was flattered into the belief that he was really 
great, and by his son, Louis XV., by whom these gorgeous palaces 
were converted into dens over which reigned supreme his mis- 
tresses, Madames Pompadour and De Bray. This corruption 
of public morals by those who should have set the nation an 
example of virtue resulted in the downfall of the monarchy, 
the murder of Louis XVI. and his queen, the establishment of 
the Reign of Terror and the empire under Napoleon. Since 
the murder of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, none of the 
French rulers have resided here. Ichabod is written on its 
palace gates and walls. 

PARIS. 

M. PASTEUR AND HIS TREATMENT FOR RABIES. 

May lyf/i. 1886. — Had to-day the great good fortune 
to attend the clinic of M. Pasteur, at the Ecole Normale, 
being introduced by my friend Dr. Warren Bey, an eminent 
American physician now practicing here in Paris. Dr. Warren 
was knighted by the Sultan for his service in the Egyptian 
Army, and is also a fellow of many of the learned societies of 
Europe. He was not personallly acquainted with M. Pasteur, 
but in order to introduce me, as well as to see Pasteur and 
learn something of his discovery, he procured a letter of intro- 
duction from Professor Charcot, Physician in Charge at the 
Hospice de la SalpStriere. This procured us ready admission 
to the clinic, where we saw one hundred patients treated for 
mad-dog bites, without being much the wiser for our expe- 
rience. 

The treatment consisted in putting into the cellular system. 



4o8 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

on the anterior lateral portion of the abdomen, by means of 
the ordinary hypodermic syringe, a slightly milky looking fluid 
contained in wine glasses holding two or three ounces each, 
carefully covered with thin pink-colored paper. The needle of 
the syringe was passed through the paper, which was evidently 
intended to prevent the free admission of air into the fluid. 
The quantity used was half a drachm for adults, less for children 
and ten to fifteen drops for infants. The operation was neatly 
performed, not by M. Pasteur but by an assistant, M. Pasteur 
standing near the door and calling out from a strip of paper 
the names of the patients. After each injection the needle of 
the syringe w^as very properly dipped in a hot solution of some 
disinfectant, possibly a solution of salicylic acid, thus prevent- 
ing the possibility of infecting other patients. The pa- 
tients were a motely crowd of Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, from 
Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, 
and perhaps the remotest India — adults, children and infants, 
mostly laboring peasant people, as these would naturally be 
most likely to receive mad-dog and mad-wolf bites. But not 
all were of this class, some of both the men and women were 
of the better class of gentry. Well, of course, while all this 
was interesting and easily seen, done and learned, it failed to 
satisfy. What was the fluid that contained this antihydro- 
phobic microbe, and how is it prepared ? These to the physi- 
cian were the all important points, and these I believe, M. 
Pasteur has not revealed, has kept a profound secret. But, 
really, while this at first thought, would condemn M. Pasteur 
with the profession and, by a conduct so utterly at variance 
with all medical ethics, would consign him to the list of quacks 
and mountebanks, it may really result from the purest motives. 
It may be that M. Pasteur is afraid that the unskilled or care- 
less attempts to prepare the fluid might bring the treatment 
into unmerited disrepute and that when he has perfected and 



PARIS. 409 

established it, under his immediate care, it will be time to pub- 
lish his process. Well, is his process a cure or preventive for 
rabies ? I fear not ; certainly, it has not been proved ; has not 
been sufficiently tested, and like Perkins' Metallic Tractors 
may fail to stand a rigid test. 

He has now treated 1050 patients, bitten by mad, or sup- 
posed mad-dogs and wolves, and only a few of these thus for 
have died of rabies. Of the nineteen patients sent from Russia 
who had been bitten by a mad wolf, six or seven died here of 
hydrophobia and one or more since their return home. This 
frightful proportion, I learn, so frightened M. Pasteur that he 
insists that rabies in the wolf differs somewhat from the same 
disease in the dog. How does it differ ? 

Now, let us examine this wonderful discovery that has made 
M. Pasteur the most prominent professional man in the world, 
has, indeed, turned the eyes of all the world upon him, and by 
and through which he has received the highest honors, of stars 
and garters from the Czar of Russia and other kings and 
potentates, while the learned societies have been proud to do 
him honor. In the first place, perhaps not one dog in a dozen 
supposed to be mad, really has rabies. Dogs, like men, have 
fits, become insane, cranky. This condition in men may sug- 
gest pistols, daggers, etc., the so-called homicidal insanity ; in a 
bull, it would manifest itself in a tendency to gore every person 
and animal that came in its way ; in a ram, it would produce a 
butting furor ; in the elephant, as is well known, it would result 
in the killing of its keeper ; and, in the dog, as his habit in a 
sane condition is a biting one, would produce a morbid or ex- 
aggerated condition of this, his natural instinct, so that he 
would now be disposed to bite his friends as in a normal or 
healthy condition he would his foes. Then rabies is a disorder 
especially belonging to brutes, dogs, cats, wolves, etc., and is 
transmitted to man with not less difficulty than is cholera tran- 



4TO SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

smitted to dogs, horses, cattle, etc. So much is this the case 
that perhaps not more than one person in three or five, who 
are bitten by animals really rabid, go mad. And many of 
these really do so by the profomid mental distm-bance in the 
individual, the mortal-firight in having been bitten by a mad 
dog. Perhaps some of these last who go mad, and really die 
with many symptoms of hydrophobia have not rabies, nor had 
the dog that bit them, and here comes in perhaps much of the 
efficacy of ]\I. Pasteur treatment, the patients are convinced 
that there is no possible danger, that they have been subject- 
ed to a treatment that knows no failure, that is specific, and if 
the same faith was given to Perkins' Metallic Tractors, perhaps 
the same result might be obtained. If rabies is not a neurosis. 
surely many of its symptoms are certainly so, and ally it in some 
of its phenomena to chorea. In both conditions the neurotic 
phenomena may kill ; in both the causes producing the symp- 
toms may do so. Now the power and influence of hope and 
fear, mental impressions, in causing or curing many of these 
diseases is well known. During the frightful epidemic of St. 
Vitus' dance that broke out in some of the monasteries and 
convents in Europe in the Middle Ages, many of the inmates 
of those institutions were seized immediately on seeing one ef- 
fected with the disorder. Well, a wise doctor discovered that 
a red hot iron was a specific, not only in its application, but 
both preventing and curing the disease, by merely seeing it. 
He had the patients brought forward, placed a number of iron 
pokers in the fire, heated them to a red heat and ordered 
them applied to the first patient who had an attack. None 
were attacked. No one will infer by this that we do not be- 
lieve that both rabies and chorea are real, any more than we 
would imply that cholera is not real when we say that during a 
cholera epidemic many persons die with fright cholera who 
would not have been sick but for their fright. 



PARIS. 411 

Again, many persons who are bitten by dogs really mad, and 
who otherwise might go mad are protected by their clothing 
wiping off the morbid material as the dog's teeth pass through 
it, previous to entering the flesh, just as persons are sometimes 
protected by their clothing having wiped off the venom of 
snake-bites, who would certainly have perished had they been 
bitten on a naked part. 

While then, with all other men, we heartily wish that this 
claimed discovery of M. Pasteur's may be real and efficient, in 
the absence of all knowledge of how it is prepared, with its im- 
perfect test, and with the known possibilities of error, we would 
prefer to wait further developments before giving our full assent, 
unmixed with fear or doubt, as to its efficacy. 

M, Pasteur is about 65 years of age, some 5 ft. 10 in. in 
height, heavy set, with an iron constitution and extra inflexible 
will which images itself upon his visage, giving him almost a 
ferocious appearance, so that one could but feel when looking 
at him that he would have made a first class brigand, or an in- 
vincible commander of a privateer, where his victims would 
have been slaughtered without mercy ; But, as his life has been 
devoted to benefitting not injuring, to saving not destroying 
man, as we might well divine, he has been as successful in the 
latter as hemighthave been in the former direction, Indepen- 
dent of his present field, he has perhaps done more good than 
any other living man and is fully entided to all the honors that 
have been heaped upon him. His exalted worth as a scientist, 
together with our undivided faith in the unlimited power of 
science to prevent or cure every disorder of a zymotic nature 
to which human flesh is heir, encourages the hope, despite the 
objections given, that he is now moving in the right direction, 
and that his labors may result in the prevention of this hereto- 
fore incurable and horrible malady, and that even now he may 
be in possession of the means to lessen the danger resulting 
from the bite of rabid animals. 



412 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

It is indeed difficult to believe that of the nineteen patients 
sent him from Russia, who had been not merely bitten by a 
mad-wolf, but torn to pieces, fearfully mangled, by the enraged, 
monstrous, wild beast, only seven or eight should have died ; 
Indeed, at first sight, it would seem scarcely possible, torn as 
they were, (one of the patients having the trachea torn open) 
with the immense absorbing surface exposed to the poison, 
that any of them should have escaped a horrible death ; and 
yet it may be possible that as all these were bitten by the same 
animal m rapid succession, the first by wiping off with their 
clothes and flesh the saliva, may have protected those bitten 
later ; just as we see if the most venomous snake is made to bite 
in rapid succession a number of rabbits or other small animals, 
only the first few die, the others being only slightly or not at all 
aflected and then of these patient's who died of rabies after 
being subjected to Pasteur's treatment — may we not fear that 
some of them died of X2ih\es because oi the treatment — were 
unoculated with rabies ? If, however, it is true he is really in 
possession of this miracle-working scientific discovery, it is 
impossible to overestimate its importance. Heretofore all 
hydrophobic patients have traveled the same road ; from the 
dark, dismal labyrinths of rabies there have been no returning 
footsteps. Should then, this horrid disorder be exorcised by 
the almighty spell of science, the world's gratitude is due the 
wizard who evokes from science's alembic the wondrous spell. 

LONDON. 

LONDON THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY. 

May 2gtJi, 1886. — This being the Queen's birthday, it is a 
half-holiday, with fetes and shows, military parade and illumin- 
ation at night. 

Attended in the morning a military parade of the Prince of 
Wales Regiment, at St. James Park. Officers and men were in 



LONDON. 413 

their brightest uniforms, and a splendid looking body of men 
they were. The Prince of Wales, the r3uke of Richmond, 
uncle to the Prince, General Wolseley and other distinguished 
officers and personages were present. The Prince, who is per- 
fectly familiar with military tactics, reviewed the troops. The 
ceremony is called trooping the colors, and a very pretty cere- 
mony it was. Nothing could excel the perfect evolution of the 
troops — horse and infantry. A military company of sixty mu- 
sicians played " God Save the Queen " and other martial 
pieces. The Prince is a fine-looking, heavy-set, square-built 
English gentleman, forty-five years of age, a little bald, frank, 
open countenance, and will doubtless make a wise and good 
ruler asking. His general appearance is much like that of Henry 
VHL, with whose appearance we had been made quite famil- 
iar by Holbein's pictures of Henry, seen not only in the gal- 
leries here but also in Germany. I was forcibly struck with 
this resemblance, though I had never heard it mentioned, but 
when I mentioned this strong resemblance at table I was told 
that it was a general observation. The Prince is very amiable 
and is devoted to the Princess. I am really glad of this, as 
the Princess is a most lovely and quite handsome woman, the 
daughter of the king and queen of Denmark, to whom I, in 
common with other members, was introduced at their palace in 
Copenhagen, during the meeting of the International Medical 
Congress, in 1884, So gentle, easy and familiar were the en- 
tire royal family of Denmark, including King George, of Greece, 
and his wife, that all the American delegation fell quite in love 
with them and quaffed their health in a glass of wine and 
swore to protect them from Bismark and all the rest of man- 
kind. As the wine was excellent aud the ladies quite hand- 
some we took another drink in confirmation of this determina- 
tion. As the baquet was truly royal and the kings more gra- 
cious and the queens and princesses more handsome than at 



414 SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 

first, to the toast " Long live the king and royal family of Den- 
mark " we drank yet another glass. Now if Bismark or the 
Czar or any other power or potentate feels like interfering with 
the rights or privileges of these good people. I hope they will 
consult their own interests by first consulting the American 
delegates to that Congress. We are pledged. 

In the afternoon there was a grand royal procession to Pult- 
ney to open a new bridge which is not as common a perform- 
ance in England as with us, where we throw daily a dozen 
bridges across rivers, either of which would drown all England. 
With some English lady friends we took carriage to witness 
the royal cavalcade. First the royal body-guard came in a 
gallop, followed by the Prince, Princess and their two daughters 
in an open carriage drawn by four fine horses, in a sweeping 
trot, the Prince waving his hat and bowing to the loud enthusi- 
astic and sincere salutes of the crowd that lined, in multitudin- 
ous masses, the roadsides for miles. If anyone supposes the 
English people tired of royalty, they would hardly have been 
strengthened in their belief by witnessing this hearty reception. 
We had a favorable position, within a few feet of the royal cor- 
tege, as they passed. The Princess was dressed in a grey suit. 
She and her daughters are rather handsome, resembling the 
royal family of Denmark, most of whom are handsome, as are 
indeed most of the ladies of Denmark, many of whom being 
the most handsome women in the world, and certainly have 
the finest complexions of all the genus hoj?w. There is some- 
thing in the high northern atmosphere or in the blood of these 
Scandinavians that gives to the women surpassingly-beautiful 
complexions, a blending of the fily and the rose nowhere else 
seen to a like perfection and loveHness. 

After witnessing the royal cortege we drove back to Hyde 
Park to see the splendid equipages, and splendidly-dressed, 
beautiful women that throng that fashionable thoroughfare on 



LONDON. 415 

such occasions. The aristocracy were out en masse. Thou- 
sands of splendid carriages, filled with the families of aristo- 
crats and wealthy citizens, were drawn through the park along 
its extended wide, graveled avenues. Perhaps no place on 
earth could present an equal number of costly equipages, and 
beautiful, finely-dressed women and children. Now if anyone 
supposes that the English women are not handsome — and I 
have heard this stated — if they will drive out to this park on 
any fine evening, especially a fete day, during the fashionable 
season, and observe the women of the aristocracy and better 
classes, they will find themselves left on this opinion. Ours 
are the prettiest women in the world and we derive our 
national type of beauty from England, 

After driving among and along with this splendid gathering 
for an hour or more, we drove to the Colonial Exhibition, 
South Kensington, where we remained until 11 o'clock p. m., 
when we returned home through the beautifully-illuminated 
crowded streets of London. 

The Colonial Exhibition is just such a sight as only the Brit- 
ish Empire could produce. From every part of her vast col- 
onial possessions were multitudinous articles showing the 
natural resources and industrial products of the world. We 
remained in the great halls and large rooms entranced with 
sight-seeing until the illumination of the gardens. This was 
really a gorgeous sight, surpassing far the wildest dream of 
Arabian Nights. In an instant tens of thousands of small 
Edison electric lights flashed into view converting the gardens 
into those of the Hesperides literally, in which the trees at the 
same moment bore blossoms of silver and apples of gold and 
rubies. In every tree thousands of balls of glass of different 
colors, previously unseen, flashed into existence, loading the 
trees with blue, red, white and yellow flowers and fruits, while 
the beautiful fountains played now in jets of silver, now of 



4i6 



SOUVENIRS OF TRAVEL. 



gold lace, which breaking as cloud-dust fell in seas of spark- 
ling diamonds, emeralds, pearls, fountains, fields of illuminated 
golden glory — such a scene as we might suppose the gods 
would prepare on festive occasions. The scene was surpass- 
ingly beautiful, gorgeous ; just such a sea of irridescent glory 
as the wealth of the world could not have produced in any 
other age than this the marvelous nineteenth century. 



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